Revelations 2: Lost and Found
by everfaithful
Summary: Sequel to Revelations: Johns death revealed two secrets, not just one. Sam is willing to sacrifice it all to give his brother a chance at life, a real life, But Dean isnt willing to let that happen.
1. Chapter 1

A/N welcome back! For those of you that haven't read our story Revelations, you might want to find it and take a look. Otherwise there are points of continuity you might be lost on. I hope you all enjoy this one. Please R&R, feedback improves the story and makes it more fun for us to write as well.

"_what is it?" Dean asked as he looked up at his father. Something was wrong. He could feel it in the air around them. _

"_you know, when you were a kid, I'd come home from a hunt. And after what I'd seen, I'd be...I'd be wrecked. and you, you'd come up to me and you'd put your hand on my shoulder and you'd look me in the eye and you'd say "it's okay dad." Dean, I'm sorry"_

"_for what?" He asked, even more confused and worried than before. _

"_you shouldn't have had to say that to me, I should have been saying that to you. You know, I put, I put too much on your shoulders, I made you grow up too fast. You took care of Sammy, you took care of me. You did that. And you didn't complain, not once. I just want you to know that I am so proud of you. " _

"_this really you talking?" He asked with a faint grin, hoping to make light of this conversation, make it go away. John Winchester didn't do hallmark moments. Something was wrong, something was desperately wrong. _

"_Yeah. Yeah, it's really me."_

" _why are you saying this stuff?" Something was going to happen. Dean could see it in his fathers eyes. There was a sadness there that shouldn't be with all of them still alive and well. What did John know that he wasn't telling?_

" _I want you to watch out for Sammy, okay?"_

" _yeah, dad. You know I will. You're scaring me." He said honestly. This entire conversation was seriously freaking him out. He was waiting for the axe to fall any moment now. _

"_Don't be scared Dean." John said as he leaned in close, to whisper the truth into his sons ear. He didn't want Sam to over hear if he were coming back with the coffee he had sent him for. "you have another brother." He said softy and waited as Dean pulled back from him. _

"_What?" The younger Winchester mouthed silently, absolute confusion in his eyes. _

"_His name is John, but he's called Jack" he said leaning in once more "And he is Maggie's child."_

"_Is… is he like her?" Dean asked, keeping his voice down as well. Not so much for secrecy, but to hide the fear in his voice. He still had nightmares about what she had done to him when he was young, what she had planned to do to Sam. _

"_no" John said honestly "But Sammy is. You have to watch out for your brother, Dean. You have to watch over him, because if you cant save him, then one day you may have to kill him. " _

"_what?" Dean gasped "you cant ask that of me… god Dad don't ask that of me. I don't understand"_

"_I know son. I'm sorry. I don't have time to explain right now. But know that if Sam goes dark… he will become what she was. I'm counting on you, when I cant be here. Promise me. "_

"_I'll save him Dad. " Dean said still reeling from his fathers revelation. A brother by a demon … and a brother who might become one. Right then coma and slow peaceful death was sounding good. He couldn't hurt Sam. No matter what his father asked, he couldn't hurt Sammy. So he had to save him._

"_And if you cant?"_

"_Dad!" Dean exclaimed, very nearly hyperventilating. _

"_Promise me Dean. " He said with a desperation in his voice that Dean had never heard before. _

"_Yeah… okay" He said. This was some sort of nightmare, it had to be. "I promise." _

_John nodded then. He could go now. His last duties in this life passed on to his son. A hell of a legacy to leave his son. One that he hoped wouldn't destroy him in the end, but it was done. He nodded again, then leaned in and rested his head against his sons one last time. "Thank you" he said as he straightened and turned to walk out the door before he could change his mind and find some reason to stay just a little longer. Spend just a little longer with his son. _

_He entered his hospital room and lay the Colt down upon the table. "I'm Ready."_

Dean woke up. In some garish tacky hotel room, he didn't even know what town he was in these days. Sam and him, they'd kept moving. Moving toward something, away from everything else. He couldn't tell you what that something or that everything was. But they kept moving.

He looked over at Sam, he was still sleeping. So he padded off to the bathroom, turning on the light only after the door was shut. He splashed water on his face, then did it again. He could feel thirty barreling toward him like that semi.

Twenty seven. Right now he felt like two hundred twenty seven. He didn't look a whole lot younger than that either right now. But it just might be the sleep deprivation catching up with him.

One would think he'd feel lighter after sharing the BIG SECRET with Sam. Except he'd only shared half of it. The other half he was still working on. He couldn't give Sam it, not until he could give Sam answers along with that. The first half was easy. Because there had been an answer already. Dean would not have to kill Sam because he would save Sam. Or die trying. It was that simple.

But this mysterious youngest brother he hadn't known existed until right before Dad died? That was a whole other thing. He had no answers for that. Not for Sammy, not for himself. And most of the time, he tried not to think about it.

And most of the time, it was easy. He was occupied enough.

Then there were nights (or early mornings depending on the point of view) when he would be alone in a motel bathroom, sitting on the toilet lid. The harsh fluorescent lights picking up the faded, faint, hairline scars on his forearms as he sat leaning over his knees.

He straightened up and traced one of them with his index finger lightly. He remembered each and every one of those cuts. He remembered not being able to sleep through the night for a good year after it. He remembered Sam's fear, and how wrecked...no, Sam was right, broken...John had looked until those cuts had healed and weren't quite as visible.

He used to sleep on his back. Now he slept on his stomach. Most would think it was because it was easy access to the knife he slept with under his pillow. They were partly right. But the wounds on his back had seemed to sting like hellfire long after they should have healed.

And easy access to a weapon made it harder for something to sneak up on him. Even while asleep, Dean had to be on guard. Because he had to watch out for Sammy. And watch out for himself.

The last good night's sleep he had had was when he was in the coma. And one didn't need a medical degree to tell Dean that it wasn't good. He couldn't keep on like this. Not forever.

But hopefully long enough. Long enough to find this brother, this Jack. The balls of that woman to name him after their father. And long enough to save Sammy. The yellow eyed demon was forgotten as his mission became Save Sammy From Himself. Even if Sam didn't know the whole of it.

"Dean? You all right?" Sam called out from his bed. He had heard Dean get up and thought he was in there an awfully long time. Sam was worried about his brother. Ever since he had revealed their father's final words, Deans erratic behavior made sense. But it was starting to wear him down. He was tired all the time and Sam could see it very clearly in every line of his brother's face, and it was getting worse.

Sam got up and went to the door. "Talk to me Dean."

Dean jumped when he heard Sam's voice. And it took him a moment to recover from that. But he stood up and flushed the toilet that he hadn't used and opened the door, nearly running into Sam, who was waiting outside.

"I'm fine." He said. "Your turn." Meaning for the bathroom.

"No, you're not, Dean." Sam said as he sat down on the edge of the bed. "You've been having the nightmares again, haven't you? What brought them up?" He had seen his brother touching the places where the cuts had been on his arms, probably with out even realizing he was doing it. It had gotten worse since Dean had told him The Secret. "What aren't you telling me?"

"Sam, drop it." He said as he went for his father's journal. There was never any mention of Jack. But there had to be a clue in there somewhere. He turned on the bedside light and started to leaf through it. "I don't know, they just came back. They're just nightmares. You're psychic boy."

"Nightmares don't have to be visions to mean something." Sam said. It meant that his brother was upset. It meant that something had either reminded him strongly of Maggie, or something had him scared and that was the only time Sam could remember ever seeing Dean scared. Well... other than the airplane. And that went back to Maggie too really. The dreams had come back then too. "Look, Dean... if this thing with me going all dark side is getting to be too much ... I can ... I don't know... go hang out at the road house for a while- give you some space."

"Shut up, Sam." Dean said with a tired sigh as he set aside the journal to rub at his eyes. The lack of sleep was catching up fast. At least in the early hours before some coffee and adrenaline rush. He sat back against the headboard and blinked up at the ceiling. "It's uh..." Was there an easy way to say it? Probably not. And even if there was, Dean was too tired to think of it anyway. "It's Dad. He told me two things. I only told you one of them. The other has nothing to do with you. We...ah...well...it seems Dad and Maggie...well...this is so disturbing to think about." He said, then decided to just get it out. "We have a brother."

"We have a brother?" Sam echoed. "By Maggie of all things? What the hell was ... " he stood up and started to pace. Oh yeah this was definitely disturbing to think of. "You don't think she..." He couldn't imagine his father sleeping with a demon at all. He supposed it could have been that he didn't know at the time but that was still... No not Maggie. "I mean... How old is this kid anyway?" Was it something she had made him do when she had them for so long in that closet? Had it been a spell? Enchantment over their father, a glamour over herself? It didn't make sense.

"Twenty." Dean said. "Makes it before Dad knew she was what she was. Before she went all dark side and tried to kill us and everything. We've got a twenty year old brother out there. He said he's not like Maggie...his name is Jack. Dad didn't know where he was...neither did she. I don't know what I'm supposed to do with this information. Am I supposed to find him? Am I supposed to just know and not do anything? Not like his name is on a birth certificate or anything..." he'd already checked that. Looking for John Winchesters on birth certificates. He turned up three that could be his father. John's birth certificate, Dean's, and Sam's.

"Maybe he is under Maggie's last name. They weren't married or anything. She was a hunter... One of Dad's old cronies has to know what her name was. " He shook his head and went to start the small coffee pot. "20... okay...well at least we aren't looking at someone we have to raise... And if she didn't know where he was either then there is a good chance he isn't an evil bastard "

"Yeah, he could just be a bastard." Dean said with a chuckle as he put the journal aside. "Dad's genes have to express somehow, right? I don't know, should we even bother? I mean, he could have this nice normal happy little life. Last thing he would need is us trampling in. Oh yeah, your mom was an evil demon, and your dad...our dad...killed her. Because he's a hunter. And he's dead too. Wanna get a beer?"

"We don't have to tell him. " Sam suggested. "But this is gonna drive you insane if we don't do something. " He pointed out. "You're not sleeping and when you are, you're dreaming of her. We'll find him, and then we'll take it from there. If he is happy and normal we just... Say Hi... Nice to meet you, and leave him to it. If he is messed up some how then we fix it. " He couldn't help but smile then "It's what big brothers do after all."

Dean had to chuckle at that part. "Yeah, I guess that is what big brothers are for. Damn, guess you're not the baby now. Now you're the middle child." He sighed and sat up. "Guess we start bothering old friends of Dad's then. Start with Bobby? He seems to know the most about everything, even if he won't admit it."

"He's also the closest." He said. "Besides, I really don't want to go and ask Ellen anything about Dad." He said rolling his eyes. "She is seriously weird about him. Must have spent more time with him than the others." Sam added with a laugh. He got up and poured them both a cup of coffee and started to pack.

"Dude, you've so got to get over the image of Dad and Ellen doing something freaky. Because if they did it anywhere, they did it in the Impala, and I won't have my baby defiled like that." Dean teased as he drank his coffee and packed also. "But we're operating under the supposition that Bobby wants to talk. He's close mouthed about Dad, you know. Other than to tell us he would have shot Dad had he darkened Bobby's doorstep again."

"Everyone shuts down when we ask them about Dad." Sam pointed out. "Except for Gordon, and somehow I don't think he would be in the know even if he would be willing to talk." He said. "So we start asking questions until someone answers them. Even if we have to go diggin up people we've never met before."

"Yeah, I think we're the last people Gordon wants to talk to." Dean said with a chuckle. "Okay, we'll go bug Bobby. You drive." Since he was exhausted. "I'll go through Dad's journals, see what I can find for leverage." They'd found more journals when they'd gone through Dad's truck. Not that they honestly thought he'd only kept one.

Sam nodded. "Sounds good, take out on the way. " He said as he finished packing. Didn't take long. He never really unpacked anymore.There wasn't any point. It was a rare occurrence for them to stay in one place for long. "I can't believe he would keep something like this from us. I mean as much as I hate he did it, hiding what I am probably makes sense but to keep a brother from us..."

"Well, there were probably reasons for that." Dean said. "And we'll find out what they were." He slung the bag over his shoulder and gave the room a once over. "Okay, onto Bobby's. This should be...really not fun."

Sam rolled his eyes. "Dad always had his reasons. Doesn't mean they were good ones." He said as he grabbed his things and headed out the door. He put his things in the trunk taking his laptop up front with him, along with a jury rigged tapedeck adapter, that would allow him to use the car's stereo to play mp3s from his computer.

He settled into the driver's side and adjusted the seat, waiting for Dean to get in before starting the car.

Dean settled in with the journals. "Take out first. With coffee. Bobby may be the closest, but he's not exactly local." Dean pointed out as he made himself comfortable. Flipping through the journals around the time that they had been abducted. Writing down the name 'Ben' because it appeared a lot. Who knows what it was though.

Sam got drive through and checked the bags, divvying the food before pulling away from the window and starting the music playing. He kept the volume down to a moderate level, and tapped the wheel in time to the rock ballad playing.

A younger brother.

How was he supposed to react to that? Oh wow, cool, I'm not the baby any more. How dare he keep that secret from us when we needed all the family we could get. How dare he protect that child from his life and not us? Was he protecting Jack from the demons or the brothers from Jack? So many questions and the bastard hadn't even given them the opportunity to ask them.

Sam loved his father. Had always loved his father, but there were times that he hated the man too. Even now that he was gone and had given the ultimate sacrifice to save the one person Sam loved more than life. Sam loved and hated the man in equal measure. Perhaps hate was a strong word. Rage... He was enraged at his father and had been for almost as long as he could remember with momentary reprieves along the way

Dean had his arm balanced on the open window. Hoping the wind would block out the sound of whatever it was that Sam was listening to. Finally he gave up and just rubbed his temple with that hand as he turned page after page. What had he done wrong in a previous life, or even this life, to be tortured with this?

This was what he got for letting Sam drive. Punishment upon punishment as his poor tape deck was jury rigged into the computer to play whatever crap Sam had stored on it.

No, that wasn't what was bothering him, but it was a great excuse. He sighed to himself, he was putting that infamous wall up even around himself. How sad was that? And in this moment, this one clear moment, he truly hated his father for dumping this...everything...on him. And dumping it like he had. He had the responsibility of his father's death on his shoulders. The mission to Save Sammy. And now this mysterious younger brother.

Of course the music wasn't helping at all.

He turned down the radio and turned toward Sam. "Okay, the two times we were abducted," since he didn't remember the third, "he was with Bobby, or went to Bobby each time. Says so right in his journal, even if he doesn't mention anything about Maggie besides Solomon and Djinn."

"Djinn?" Sam asked, having a hard time accepting that. "Please don't tell me we have them to deal with too. As though Demons and crossroads werent enough trouble." He shook his head then looked back at the road for a moment "Maggie was mentioned with Djinn and Solomon. Do you think maybe Djinn were just another sort of incorporeal demon and he maybe bound her?"

"No, looks like they took that ritual and changed it a bit to deal with Maggie. The Djinn part was just a side note." Dean said. "We've got enough worries without adding in more. No idea where they got that ritual was, that's beyond ancient."

"Original Key of Solomon text I imagine. Had to have some serious connections to get that sort of thing. " Sam said shaking his head. "Why is it I get the feeling I never knew our father at all? It's like he was one man with us and then had this whole other life that we never knew about or saw."

"Probably a reason for that." Dean said. "Not like I knew any of this or anything. I don't know, how do you tell your two sons that you had a kid with someone else and he's out there...somewhere? If Dad knew where to find him, he would have told me. That's not saying that if he knew where to start looking he would have told me, because I think he knew and just didn't. Yeah, I'm really not liking this whole finding out new things about him as we go. It's getting ridiculous, like our whole lives were one big illusion he put together or something."

"If he was protecting us... What the hell was he going through that he needed to hide it from us, cause, we didn't grow up in a sheltered life style. We were killing things before we had our first kiss, hell I still thought girls had cooties the first time I killed a creature. And he was hiding things from us to protect us?"

"Or him." Dean pointed out. "Come on, Sammy. Gordon's hunting for you because Dad was possessed by a demon the night he and Mom...well...you know." Dean said. "What if he told us? What if he did? And what if it got out? That kid's not with us, for some reason, but he's not with us. He might not know how to protect himself. Any single breath of it could have gotten him killed. Dad did the best he could, we can protect ourselves. We don't know if he can."

"That first time we were taken... Maggie said she and Dad weren't friends any more because he didn't like who her father was." Sam said. He had forgotten a lot of things over the years. Had even forgotten most of the details of both abductions. It was a long time ago, details fade. But that one conversation, leading up to her taking his blood he had never forgotten. Probably because he had never been so scared in his life. "I remember telling her that wasn't right because it wasn't her fault who her father was." He sighed and looked out the window. "You know what she told me? She said it wasn't my fault either... Who my father was... And I don't think she was talking about Dad... She knew. She knew what I am... Because she was the same thing. I'm gonna wind up like her."

Dean turned the radio off completely and looked at his brother. "Absolutely not." He said. "Shut up Sam, and don't you ever say anything like that again." He had strong feelings on Maggie, and none of them were good. "Look, Dad was new at that whole hunting thing. Remember that nest of vampires we ran into? By the book we should have X'ed them all out. But come to find out, sure, they're blood suckers, but they weren't evil. You are not going to be evil. I'm just not going to allow it, you got it? Maggie was evil. Completely. Probably way mad at Dad for dumping her too come to think of it. You are not Maggie, and she was just messing with your head. Got it?"

"We don't know that Dean." Sam said with a growling sigh. "She was Dad's lover. I mean... It was early on too if the kid is 20. She had to be something special at some point for Dad to go there. She was a hunter. Chances are she never thought she would go evil either. I'm tainted... The demon was part of my creation... He has plans for me because I'm his as much as I am Dad's. "

"Yeah, and every woman I've slept with has meant oh so much." Dean scoffed. "Sam, I'm serious. You're not going to go evil, and the demon isn't going to get his hands on you. You know how I know that? Because I'm here and that's MY job. Unless you're calling me bad at my job?"

"No, I'm not saying you're bad at your job. I'm just say there is only one way to stop a caterpillar from turning into a butterfly... It may not be anything either of us can stop. " Maybe this was why their dad had chosen that moment to tell Dean about Jack. So that he could have another little brother ... So that he wouldn't be alone when Sammy went evil. Sam could see that, could even understand it.

"Only you would resort to some girly metaphor when I'm on the verge of punching you in your fluffy head." Dean grumbled. "Caterpillars, butterflies...what IS that, man?" He said, shaking his head. "The only way you're going dark side is if I'm dead. End of story, because as long as I'm here, it's not going to happen. How come I'm supposed to believe and accept everything you say about going all evil, but you won't believe or accept that I won't let it happen?"

"Because I'm ... Not entirely human." Sam said. "Okay... The monster that killed our mother, was in possession of Dad when I was made... You know... Nephilim are the children of possessed men... There are some sources that say that God flooded the world to get rid of them. What does that tell you? Even GOD wanted what I am wiped from existence. "

"Yeah, well, God's gonna have to go through me." Dean said, and there was just enough edge and steel to his voice that screamed that he'd give God a good run for his money. Possibly with succeeding. "Okay, so we'll hit up Bobby. See if he knows anyone named Ben. It's scrawled a lot in the margins of one of the journals."

Sam frowned at that. He didn't like the idea of that sort of blasphemy coming out of his brother's lips. God was all too real to Sam. It was the only way he found to deal with the things they faced. If he believed in the evil he had to believe in the equal and opposite good. Otherwise the fight was for nothing. "Okay. Ben... I don't remember a Ben... Then again I don't remember an Ellen either." Sam said with a shrug.

Dean put the journal down and scrubbed at his face with his hands. "Which means we're back to square one. Which is nada." He said, frustration tinging his voice. Nothing came easy if your last name was Winchester, it seemed. And he was pretty damn sick of it.

"Look, let's just wait and see what we find out at Bobby's." Sam said. "Obviously Dad didn't leave us much to go on. All we can do is work with what we have. Let's give it a rest for the night, okay?" Even though that was really the last thing Sam wanted. He wanted to make sure there was someone left for Dean if it came down to him having to die. Some reason for Dean not to blow his own brains out once it was done. He had seen that look in his brother's eyes back in Oregon. They both would have died that day if Sam were infected.

"Yeah, sure." Dean said, but pushed himself back in the seat and tried to make himself comfortable. Usually he slept like a log in the car, but tonight...just seemed it wasn't happening. Everytime he thought he might find an answer, he found more questions. Sam's attitude wasn't helping matters, about his 'destiny' or some such crap. He didn't believe in that. He couldn't. Because if Sam's destiny was turn out like Maggie, then Dean's destiny would be to kill him. And he couldn't live with that. "How far are we?"

"We have about 4 more hours to go to get there. We can make it before having to crash. You wanna get a hotel room there in town or hope he doesn't mind us taking advantage of our old room?" He asked, remembering how safe that room had felt when they had been saved. "Wait... Ben... You don't think... "

"Don't think what, Sammy?" Dean replied. "The third room sounds good, unless he's filled it with even more crap than the last time we saw it." Which hadn't been that long ago, actually. While he was fixing and rebuilding the Impala, which had been stored in Bobby's auto yard. "Come on, really not in the mood to try and read minds." Way too tired for that.

"The guy that grabbed us out of the closet and took us back to Bobby's." Sam said. " Do you think that might be the Ben it refers to? Cause I don't remember anyone else involved with the Maggie situations other than Bobby and that one guy."

"A demon?" Dean said. "A demon Dad had held to some sort of oath for five minutes? I don't know, that's a stretch that Dad would be working with a demon. Using, sure I can buy it. Making a deal with one..." He sighed at that. "Ican definitely believe it." After all, Dean was alive, wasn't he? Because of some sort of deal. "I don't know, we'll see what Bobby has to say. If they're one in the same, the demon that brought us to Bobby's and this Ben, he'd know. Was his house after all."

"Yeah. Here's hoping he tells us what was going on at the time. " He said and changed the play list on his computer to something that wouldn't give Dean such fits. He could handle some thing a little closer to Dean's music for the last couple hours. The man looked like he was going to bolt out the car window any moment.

Dean barely bit back a sigh of relief when Sam changed the music and leaned his head against the headrest. "Guess we could threaten to drink all his beer." Dean said. "But I think the fact that we know means he'll tell us, I mean, we could only know if Dad told. And if he told, obviously he wanted the story told too."

Sam chuckled at that, and fell silent for the rest of the drive. His mind was going faster than the car he drove, running over all of his memories of Maggie. How she had progressed from almost compassionate in her treatment of them to being the creature of nightmares. That was how he was going to go. It was going to be a slow progression to evil and then one day he would become a thing with no form of his own and having to possess others... He would become his brothers worst nightmare. Dean would never be able to kill him in time to stop the evil. He wouldn't see it until it was too late.

_"Killing that guy, killing Meg - I didn't hesitate, I didn't even flinch. For you or Dad, the things I'm willing to do or kill, it scares me sometimes."_

He'd said that, Dean had, to Sam. After Meg's exorcism. He'd meant it. He still meant it. And Sam thought he was the scary one. Dean would nearly laugh if he weren't so tired. And heavy, damn he was heavy. That weight...somedays he swore Atlas had nothing on him.

Now he had this new brother. He wondered if he'd have to protect Jack from something. Or protect Jack from himself. Why even bother worrying about it? They might never find him, and if they did, he might be white bread WASP enough to just say to hell with his older brothers.

Dean's mind was racing, as it often did when he teetered over the edge of Exhaustion Falls. Some people, their minds slowed down, like sludging through mud. His...it got faster. Too fast, to where he could barely keep up with it. And his body never had the energy to do anything with it anyway, by that point.

But it was with great relief when they pulled into Bobby's yard, Rumsfeld barking to alert his master of their presence.

Bobby looked out the window then came to the door. "Well, what brings you boys back here so soon?" Bobby asked with a smile on his face, although he could tell something had the boys worried. And that couldn't be good.

Sam stretched. " There were some questions we wanted to ask you ... About ahm... When we were younger." Sam said as he came toward the door. "Dad told Dean a few things that .. Pretty much left us asking more questions than we can find the answers to."

"Don't know what I can tell you, but come on inside. Your old room's a bit of a shambles but it's there. You're welcome to it."

"Maybe later." Dean said and stretched, then went for a beer. "Look, straight out? Dad told me about Jack." And the look on Bobby's face, carefully guarded but shocked, told Dean that he knew. "He wouldn't have told me if he didn't want me to find him."

"Well, that's gonna be tricky." Bobby said. "Haven't kept up with him anymore than your dad did. His guardian made sure of that." He remembered Ben clearly, as if the fiery demon was back in his kitchen drinking his beer again.

"So you know who his guardian is? That's more information than we have. All Dad said was that he existed and his name was John... And was called Jack." Sam said, leaving out the part that Sam was like Maggie. He would pick Bobby's brain about what sort of creature she was later. When he wasn't so tired.

When he wasn't so raw.

Bobby looked between the two and stalled, getting himself another beer out of the cooler on his porch and taking a long pull off it. Leave it to John to drop a bombshell like this when he couldn't be held accountable for it. He hated that man right now, and if he were alive, Bobby would fill him with more than just buckshot.

"Yeah, I know who the guardian is." Bobby said. "Look, there's a lot you two don't know. Because you forgot." Bobby said. A whole missing chapter where they had actually met Jack from what he understood. Where John had found out about the boy in the first place. Where Maggie finally crossed over to shadow.

"What do you mean we forgot?" Dean said. "Bobby, what aren't you telling us?"

"Come on inside, you're gonna need a drink." Bobby told them and led the way back inside, breaking out the hard stuff. He waited for them to get a couple of drinks in them. "So how much do you want to know? Not sure I have the answers you are looking for but ask away."

"I don't know... I guess I should ask you to start at the beginning but I want to know what we forgot before moving on." Sam said, certain that his brother felt the same.

With that Bobby downed a shot of tequila. "Unfortunately the beginning is probably the only way any of it is going to make sense." He said and started at the beginning. What he knew of John's affair, how they had started out as an amazing team of hunters and wound up more. "She and John found out that she was ... Less than human... At the same time. You can imagine how well John took it. He gave her a week's head start, then told the rest of us. None of us knew about the boy. " He said as he downed another shot. He had lost his brother because of this. They had lost a good friend, Ellen lost her husband... It was a debauchle that he was lucky to have come through with his hide in tact.

Bobby got up and started to pace as he finished the story. "That's why she went after you boys. She needed something from one of you boys and something from John for the spell to heal him to work."

"Okay, we remember that part." Dean said. He'd never forget having to sit by helplessly while his brother had been hurt. That Sam had had to go through that so young and he hadn't been able to stop it. "Dad came, they got in a bitch ass fight, and we drove from there to motel and then to here." Dean said. He looked at Sam. "That first night, you had some sort of fever, just for a little while, but it was pretty bad. Then we were at Pastor Jim's for about a month after that."

"Yeah." Bobby said, nodding. Remembering the night his brother had died in his arms. "Had to do with whatever Maggie was doing. She went after you again."

"When I was sixteen." Dean said.

"No." Bobby said, shaking his head. "Before that." And told them what they had forgotten. Dean due to trauma, Sam due to some...convincing after the fact.

"How the hell could he make me forget that?" Sam asked, horrified that his father would let someone play with his head like that. "He made me forget I had a brother... "

"Because no 9 year old should remember going to a place that demons are afraid of. " Bobby said firmly. "And what the hell good would it do for you to remember a brother you likely would never see again?"

Sam got up and started to pace. "And that demon that rescued us while Dad fought her off the last time... That was Ben... And he has our brother?" He looked at Dean with confused eyes. "I feel like I'm in the twilight zone..."

"No kidding. Well, that's one more head injury than I thought I had. I think I should be a vegetable by now." Dean said with a frown. It made sense why he couldn't remember anything. "Okay, so Ben is a demon, and Dad let him take our brother?"

"Ben's a very old demon." Bobby said. "And your father didn't have a choice."

"So he's being raisedin some hell hole?" Dean asked.

"No, probably just somewhere warm. Guy had a thing for heat."

"Guy? This is no guy. This is a demon." Dean said.

"That demon helped rescue you the last time. Who do you think went into the Vatican and got the ritual for your daddy to use? I don't understand it, and can't say I'm fond of him myself, but he's an oath bound demon." Bobby said. "And not the kind you're used to. He doesn't need a host."

"So chances are he hasn't aged much." Dean said. "Good. One more lead. Because I remember what he looks like."

Sam nodded that he remembered as well. He was uncomfortable with his brother's emphatic stance on Ben. After all... Wasn't Sam going to become a demon one day. "What... Ahm... What can you tell me about Maggie... What she was... Not who or anything."

"What she was isn't affecting your brother." Bobby said thinking that was where things were going.

"How can you be sure?" He asked. "Genetically he is half demon. His mother was a demon when he was conceived that's going to-"

"No... She wasn't." Bobby said, and picked up the bottle downing a good deal of it. "Not really. It was dormant within her. She had visions, could move things, could cast spells but most people can if they learn. She wasn't a demon when he was conceived."

That wasn't as reassuring as it should have been. "When did she become a demon?"

"Not sure." Bobby said honestly. "What I got out of John over the years...the second time you boys were taken, she spent too much time living as a demon. Until then she'd been splitting the time. Human, demon, human, demon. And she had a choice in what she became. Evil like that, her kind, they always have a choice. That's what she chose, that's why Ben took Jack from her. Got you two out of there that time as well. Along with your daddy. Didn't hear a peep out of him until John went and summoned him in my living room."

"Wait..summoned him?" Dean interrupted.

"Don't ask." Bobby said, shaking his head. "John found that ritual somewhere. I don't even know where, hadn't ever heard of it before."

"So do you still have the ritual around that Dad used to summon this guy?" Sam asked bluntly.

"What the hell?" Bobby asked

"Can you find the ritual to summon him?"

"I understood it the first time." Bobby said, shaking his head. "Yeah, it's around here somewhere." He knew exactly where it was, even if it didn't seem like there was any organization to his place. "The Solomon key isn't fixed though."

"We'd need to trap him?" Dean asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, if I was yanked out of somewhere by force, and I could start fires, yeah, I'd be pissed." Bobby said.

Sam shrugged. "Okay so we bind him in place until he can see reason... Do we need to fix the ceiling first or just the key?" Sam asked, not about to give up on this quest. He had the hopes that this mysterious younger brother would be what Dean needed to make it through all of this. Give him someone to make him feel needed when Sam was gone.

And Sam planned to be gone, far from Dean before this evil took him over.

"Well, if you two wanted to fix my ceiling, that would be much appreciated." Bobby said. "Plaster and drywall are in the shed." He said, gesturing to the back door. It was normally something he would have done a long time ago, but he did have a living to make. That meant cars to fix and repair before sending on their way. He figured the ceiling could wait, it wasn't going to come down on his head any time soon. Then again, he wasn't about to pass up free labor from the two that had broken it in the first place!

"Okay." Dean said. "Come on, Sam. We got work to do." Fix the damn celing, summon a damn demon, meet his damn brother that he never knew about. This was one hell of a day.

"Dude, I've been driving all day. Let's just... Let's just give it a bit. We can do this later." Sam suggested. "Besides I'm starving. You wanna go and asses the damage or go get the burgers?"

"I'll get the burgers." Dean said. "Gotta purify the car, after all." And driving...cleared his head. With the engine purring and the music blaring, and nothing but the road in front of him...it cleared his head. For a few brief minutes the weight wasn't there. Probably the smartest thing John had ever done, giving the Impala to Dean.

Bobby watched Dean go. He'd be a few hours. John used to drive to clear his head too. Even when he had a so called destination in mind. "How you boys doing?" He asked Sam.

"I don't know." Sam said honestly. "Dean told me about Jack last night, and he's..." Sam almost opened up. But didn't. They didn't need an old friend trying to kill him too. "I think this is what has had him messed up since Dad's death." He looked at Bobby. "So, have anything around here to eat." He asked with a faint laugh, knowing how long it would take Dean. His brother needed the time out and away so he didn't begrudge it, but his stomach was starting to growl like the Impala.

"I got some left over stew from yesterday in the crock." Bobby said. He lived alone, except for Rumsfeld, and tended to cook things he could stretch over a few days. Less work that way. Besides, his dog liked his stew. "I've never met him, your other brother. Met Ben once, and that was more than enough. He's condescending, drinks more tequila than your dad, and smokes like a damn chimney. But he was hell bent on protecting Jack. I'll give him that."

"Stew sounds good, thank you." Sam said and nodded as the man spoke of the demon "He didn't have to bring Dad or us out of that place either time. Could have left us to her." He frowned a little. "Do you think she ever had a chance of ... Not turning?" That was the 60 million dollar question. Was there any hope for him, or was he doomed to become evil?

"Shouldn't ask me. I didn't like her from the start." Bobby said. "She was a little too arrogant and self righteous for my tastes. So when she went off her rocker, can't say I was overly suprised." She had had too much invested in John, it seemed to Bobby. And he knew that no one should ever invest anything in John, not even his sons.

"Doesn't sound like the type Dad would go for." He said with a shrug. "Then again who knew what Dad really thought or felt about anything." He knew now for instance that his father had known all along about what he was and had kept it from him. But it certainly explained why he was always all over Sam about being selfish, or doing the slightest thing wrong, why disagreeing with John was grounds for a fight... Because John was scared and that's how John dealt with fear. "I don't know... Can't help but wonder what pushes someone into darkness. It can't happen over night... Not without a dramatic change anyway. Can it?"

"Got your daddy drunk one night." Bobby said as he looked for the ritual. "Told me she started to slip the first time hunters got too close. Apparently your brother Jack got hurt and she made a deal. All downhill from there. That's what your dad knew. Who knows if she told John anything close to the truth? But after your mother died, your father didn't have a 'type' of woman. Just warm and willing whenever he had an urge. Just with Maggie, he could urge and hunt at the same time. You didn't see her around you boys,did you?"

Sam shook his head. "No. I never saw her or heard her name mentioned until the day she kidnapped us the first time." He sighed as he got himself a bowl of stew. There was no way out of this for him. He was going to start sliding down the slope into darkness and then boom. Something would happen to Dean again and that would be that. Hell the demon would probably arrange it himself just to get Sam to make the deal... and now that he knew it was possible, would he really be able to resist? Could he let Dean die just to save his own soul? No. Never. No matter how selfish everyone thought Sam was, he really wasn't. He had just wanted what everyone else wants in life, a family of his own, a home, a career... he had just wanted to be normal. Now he knew why his father had insisted that was never going to happen. "I guess we know where Dean picked up his womanizing habits." He said and grabbed a beer. Any more tequila and he would be spilling his guts. But god he wanted to get drunk.

Bobby chuckled and went back to rifling through his papers and books. He was comfortable in silence, lived in it most of the time. Soon the room was filled with the sounds of Sam eating and pages turning until Rumsfeld barked. A short bark, not an alarming bark.

Who needed a doorbell when you had a rottweiler?

"Dean's back. Hope you left room for cold burgers." Bobby said, not looking up as Dean came back in.

He felt better, Dean did. The drive helped. He also picked up the burgers on the way back, not the way out, so they weren't that cold.

"Whatcha got, Bobby?" Dean asked as he plopped the grease stained bag onto the table.

"Found it." Bobby said and handed the paper to Dean who looked it over.

"Okay then." Sam said. "Chow then we see about pissing off a demon that travels in flames." Sam said, always having room for more food. Thankfully his own personal security blanket didn't tend to put weight on him even though it should. He did after all spend most of his life in the passenger's seat of a car.

"You boys are sure you want to do this?" He asked as he set the paper down for them to take a look at. "And actually you have to fix the ceiling before you can piss off the flaming demon. Cause I know you boys don't want to rebuild my house for me."

"I know, I know." Dean said as he started to eat. "And we want to do this. I mean, Dad wouldn't have told me if he didn't want us to, you know, meet up with him or something, right?" That was the trump card. That this was what John wanted. And hard for an old friend to deny a man his dying wish, right.

Bobby sighed and s hook his head. "All right then. I'll go get the supplies for you." He said as he ambled out to his shed.

"You ready for this, Sam?" Dean asked his brother.

Sam thought about it for a moment then nodded. "Yeah." He said and started to clear things away from where they needed to set up their ladder to get at the ceiling. He did his best to keep the stacks of books exactly how he had found them just... Pushed back.

He really wasn't ready for this. Not really. He wanted to meet his younger brother. Wanted to make sure that he and Dean bonded a little. But he wasn't ready for what all of this heralded. He wasn't ready to leave all that he loved behind. Wasn't ready to accept his fate. But he had to. Otherwise he would destroy them both.

"What about you?" He asked looking over at Dean.

"Nope." Dean said. "Too many variables. He could be dead for all we know. Or in prison for something heinous that he actually did." Dean, of all people, had to make the distinction between being accused of something and actually doing something. "But it's...I don't know...kinda like a last request from Dad. Not like I can refuse, right?" Because he was the good little soldier. Always had been.

"Sure you can. " Sam said, wishing he hadn't. But even if it were in his best interest he couldn't make Dean do something he wasn't ready for. "You have defied every other form of authority on the planet . You can tell Dad no. Last request or not. I want to do this but if you aren't ready, we aren't going to do it. " He stepped closer to his brother. "It wasn't right... He should never have put this on you alone."

"Who else was he going to put it on?" Dean said. "There was no one else. Not with the whole...load of crap...he said." Like the part about Sammy. "But he did, can't change it. Look, let's just do this. Talk to this demon guy, see what he says." Because Sam wanted to. And that trumped whatever Dean was feeling or thinking.

Sam nodded and climbed up on the ladder to begin work. It was time consuming. The cracks in the ceiling were deep ones. Fortunately it was an old house, plaster and lathe that they could patch with out having to take down the whole ceiling. He climbed Down once that was done to let Dean up to go about fixing the seal.

Dean got up with the paint and started fixing the seal as Sam held the book up for him to see. "So this won't be so bad. This part is easy. Except, of course, for summoning a sure to be pissed off demon and all. That part could suck." He was rambling he knew it. But he was okay with that.

"He cant be too bad. He didn't kill Dad for it last time" Sam pointed out. "And he did save our hides, not that we were particularly nice about it at the ... Time... But I'm sure he has forgotten all about that whole accusing him of it being a trick thing."

Bobby scoffed "That thing remembers offenses by people long dead" He pointed out. Mostly hoping they would abandon this idea. The offenses remembered had been pretty major and involving torture as Bobby recalled.

"Well, that's what the binding seal is for." Dean pointed out as he got off the ladder and moved it aside. "Let's do this." He said. No time to waste as he took the candles and started to light them. "I cannot believe I'm doing this."

Bobby simply shook his head and stood back letting the boys work. He figured he owed John enough to stand there an make sure they werent going to get their damned fool selves killed. Something was off with those two and he didn't know what it was. He suspected they werent at the top of their game.

Sam let Dean set the stage, and once the candles were lit he began the incantation. It was a powerful one and he could feel the energy pulling at the very center of his being as he canted the words.

Dean joined it, but this was the most powerful thing they'd ever done. They'd summoned other demons (at least Dean had, once) but this was a whole other ball game. And Dean was starting to think it wasn't going to work when the circle filled with fire, leaving a very angry man within it.

Ben turned toward Bobby. "You!" He growled. "I told you I'd kill you if you tried this stunt again."

"Wasn't me." Bobby said, perfectly calm, because Ben couldn't leave the circle. "It was them." He said gesturing toward Sam and Dean. "John's boys."

Sam stepped closer to the circle. "Hi... I'm sure you remember us but I'm Sam and this is my brother Dean. I'll cut to the chase and we can get this over and done with sooner rather than later. Dad told us about our brother and we would like to meet him. You are the only clue we have as to where he might be. Sorry for the inconvenience of the summoning or what ever discomfort it may cause but it's important to us to find him."

Ben shook his head. "And what do you want with him?" Ben said. "He's...safe. You don't get to mess that up just because your father knocked up his mother. Where is he anyway?"

"He's dead." Dean said, coming out harsher than he intended. "He told me before he died."

"Well that's a shame." Ben said neutrally. "And I don't talk in traps." He said, looking pointedly at the ceiling.

"You've got to be kidding." Dean said.

"Your choice kid, because I could stand here all day."

Sam frowned a moment. "And if we let you out, you disappear into the night leaving us no closer to our brother than we are now. Look," Sam said, "you don't have to talk just yet ... Just hear us out and then I'll let you out of there. We don't want to endanger him. Don't want to drag him around the country side hunting demons. But he is our flesh and blood. We want the chance to get to know him. That's all." He looked to Dean to see if there was anything else he wanted to add before he marred the seal with chalk.

"He's our brother." Dean said. "And that whole Maggie-Dad mess, it doesn't factor in other than the fact that he was born out of it. We've got a right to get to know him. And he's got a right to get to know us. He's already met us, he's gotta be wondering what happened to his brothers."

"You remember that?" Ben asked.

"No." Dean said, because he didn't. Trauma did that. "But I was told." Then Ben remembered that Dean was the one with the concussion that day. Sam was the one who had been convinced to forget.

"What about you?" He asked Sam. "You remember that whole escapade?"

"no." Sam said honestly. "I don't remember anything before waking up here and Dad saying that we had to move again. I guess it has something to do with a wasteland of some sort but damned if I understand it or care to. We lost our father... His last request was that we find our brother. Even if he hadn't wanted it, it's only right that we do it. Jack is family, for what that's worth."

Sam pulled the ladder over and almost put a line of chalk through the seal then paused. "Promise you won't kill Bobby." He remembered the threat made earlier. "For what we have done."

Ben rolled his eyes. "Fine. I promise I won't kill Bobby for this transgression against my privacy." Ben said. He didn't make promises lightly, so every one was clarified. And he nearly saw the hunter sigh in relief. Once the line was drawn he stepped out of the circle and looked at Jack's brothers. "You still haven't said anything that convinces me to let you interrupt his life." Jack was happy, well adjusted. Normal. Even if John and Maggie were his parents, and his guardian was a demon. He was still normal. "Being family doesn't cut it. Maggie's family too. If she were around, I wouldn't let her see him either."

"We're not going to hurt him." Dean said. "We just want to meet him. Because he's our brother."

"Still carrying around the protective oldest brother thing I see." Ben said as he walked through Bobby's house, going through the liquor cabinet. "Sorry, he's pretty much an only child. They don't do well with brother bears standing around trying to protect them, whether they need it or not. And he doesn't."

"We should believe you?" Dean shot back.

"I don't lie, kid. And I have no reason to lie to you." Ben said. "Would be a waste of my time, much like this little moment right here."

"I told you he was condescending. And arrogant." Bobby said with a roll of his eyes.

"Look... If it's me you have a problem with." Sam said without thinking about it. "Okay... I'll keep my distance. But family does cut it. Family is all a person really has. Maggie was dangerous. To a lesser degree Dad was dangerous. I get that. Hate that its that way but I get it. Dean and I aren.t going to be dangerous. We aren.t going to change his life. He's 20 not 12. He gets to make the choices about who he sees doesn't he? What he does with his life? Not you and not us. We just want the opportunity... To know him."

"Maybe it's him." He said, nodding to Dean. "He looks, walks, talks like a hunter. And your brother still carries the scars of what was done to him at the hands of a hunter." He looked back at Sam and snatched the paper from his hands, bursting it into flame until not even ash remained. "That thing's been a thorn in my side for three hundred years." He said and turned his attention back to the brothers. "How about I ask him what he wants?"

"That... that's fair. " Sam said and looked to Dean to see if there was any objection on his part. "Please come back and tell us even if he says no. Otherwise we'll just keep looking on our own."

"You wouldn't find him anyway." Ben said. "But I'll let you know what he decides." He said as he flared out of the room.

"Well, that went well." Dean said. No one was hurt, nothing was destroyed (except for the summoning spell) so, yeah, that went well.

-----------------------

Ben went back home. Oh this was going to take some explaining. ANd this was one of those things he hoped he'd never have to explain. "Jack?" He said. "You home?"

"Yeah, In here." He called out from the kitchen. "You hungry? I was just making a sandwich." It had been a lazy day. All he had on his agenda was filing his financial aid papers and picking up a few things for the house. That had taken up an entire two hours of his day. The rest had been spent reading and playing video games. Getting in the time while he could. Kaylie was due home that night and then he would have little to no free time what so ever. And he was going to love it.

"I'm good." Ben said as he went into the kitchen. Even if the boys remembered Jack, they wouldn't recognize him now. Oh, if they were looking for him, they might be able to pick him out. He had the Winchester jaw. Definitely. A jaw Ben had seen stubbornly set on more than one occasion. The shoulders. Maggie's dark hair, darker than John's. And for his exceptionally screwed up background, he was a great kid. Associate's degree, going on for his bachelor's. Hard working, smart as hell. Flirt when he wanted to be. A kid anyone would be proud of, and he was.

Ben took his responsibility toward Jack seriously. Gave him the best, most normal life he could manage, and he liked to think he succeeded. And now he was about to thrust him into Dysfunction Junction. "Come on." He siad, sitting at the table. "We have to talk." No longer could they pass for uncle and nephew, Ben aged so slowly and Jack grew so normally, they were more like brothers with an age gap.

Jack frowned but followed over, sandwich makings forgotten. "Last time you had that look, you were about to explain to me why it was a bad thing to sleep with one of your strippers." He said trying to make light of it but this looked serious.

Ben managed to laugh. "It is a bad thing to sleep with one of my strippers." He said. "Especially now, you know, since Kaylie would kick both our asses." He watched Jack sit down and sighed. "Do you remember the night I took you out of the shadow realm and onto that really great beach?" He was a demon that was attracted to heat, he loved that beach. Just wasn't a place to raise a kid, not enough other people around for him to play with. So they moved to a more populous beach.

"Yeah..." He said a little sadly. "I remember. It was the day my mom died." He said "Why? Whats brought her up? My grandfather isn't rearing his ugly head is he?" He had explained a lot to Kaylie and she didn't think he was insane. But fallen angels coming for him, or worse hunters, was probably going to be pushing his luck.

"No, this has nothing to do with your grandfather." Ben said and sighed. This really sucked. "It's about your brothers, Dean and Sam. Do you remember them?' It was only day when he was so young.

"Yes and no... I mean I remember that I have them, and that I met them. But I remember my father more. But that was a strange few days there toward the end."

"Yeah it was." Ben agreed. It had, it marked his mother's full transformation into something dark and unpalatable. Not to mention his brothers crossing a demon wasteland to get a mystical cure for their father. That wasn't exactly in the realm of normal either. "So I was sitting in my office going over the books, and...well...I was summoned. I hate being summoned, but I was."

"What?" Jack exclaimed. "Someone found the... No... THEY found the ritual didn't they? Are they hunters?" He asked. They might be blood kin but Ben was his family. Ben was the one that had been there for him . How dare they go after him!

"Your father was a hunter." Ben pointed out. "But yeah, they've gone into the family business it seems. They can't hurt me, you know that. They just had some questions...about you." Now here was the sticky part. "John's dead. Died...I don't know how or w hen...but recently. He told them about you. So now they want to meet you. They don't remember you, so this was news to them. So I burned the ritual, threatened to kill everyone and promised to come back and ask you. So, kiddo, it's up to you. Or you can just forget I said anything."

"Oh." He said rather sheepishly, he felt foolish for assuming they were hunting Ben. Not that it mattered in his estimation whether or not they could hurt he demon. He didn't really feel any grief for the loss of John. He was someone he had met once, who seemed to want as little to do with him as possible. That part hurt. It had hurt him deeply all of his life. But that didn't mean he loved the man or felt any loss with his death. He had lost him when he was 6. The same day he had found him.

He gave a low sigh and leaned back in his chair. "I wont say it cant hurt to meet them. But sure, why not? Worst case scenerio I can't stand them and have all the more reason to be grateful for the life I have here." Although, if he were being honest with himself it would be that the wrost would be that they didn't care for him at all. In some ways Jack was still that little boy needing to be accepted and wanted. At least where his father's family was concerned.

"Your father was bitten by a shapeshifter, that passe itself on through its bite. Nasty creature, not to mention ugly." Ben said, lighting a cigarette. Kid deserved the whole story, at least as much as he was willing to tell. "Dean and Sam, they crossed a demon wasteland, nasty place, for the only cure. That's why he was there, and they weren't. They came back, Dean was unconscious. He doesn't remember anything from that time, got his head whacked pretty good. Sam...they convinced him it was all a dream. Because no one, never mind a kid, should remember a wasteland like that. So Sam...he might remember. Dean, we might need to knock him in the head again. But are you sure? You don't have to do this. No one's making you."

"I know." He said. "But if I don't, I am going to wake up one day and wish that I had. "Jack had always wondered about his brothers and if they wondered about him. Now was his chance to get to know them. "Do they remember Mom at all? I know at the time they knew she was a demon but If they don't remember that time..." Would his hunter brothers be able to handle that he was half demon in a weird sort of technicality?

Ben began to look uncomfortable. And he was usually unflappable. But he shifted in his chair and finished h is cigarette before lighting another. "Yeah...Jack...about that..." He said and cleared his throat. "Maggie technically didn't die that night...hear me out...your mother died. I didn't lie about that. But she crossed into...best word is darkness...so I took you and hid you from her. Because she was sadistic and downright evil. She resurfaced three years later and...well...your brothers had another encounter with her. That's the first time I was summoned, by your father."

Jack got up from the table and began to pace. His face drawn tight, looking for all the world like his father in that moment. "So you are saying my mother didn't die that night... Don't get all technical on me as to what my mother was or wasn't after that night. But she was alive... And you played demonic CPS." He ran his hand through his hair "you know... I can deal with this... I really can... But damn, that's a lot of shocks in one night." he continued to pace, heading into the kitchen and grabbing one of Bens beers and coming back to the table, brow still furrowed, jaw still set. Not once was there anger in his features. Not real anger, and Ben had seen him angry plenty of times over the years.

"So mom didn't die at the hands of my demonic grandfather... Instead," He said as he opened the beer, "she lay in wait for three years and went after my brothers... Again... That was what ... The third time she tried to turn them into faces on a milk carton? I don't get it Ben... How is that the same person that used to love me so much that it hurt to see it in her eyes?"

"Because she changed. It was the human in her that loved you. The demon in her doesn't feel anything but rage. The first time...was when you were hurt...the first time she embraced that part of herself." Ben said. He'd spent a long time explaining the different sorts of demons to Jack over the years. "The second time...she believed John broke his word, and it was vengeance. It was the start of a slippery slide that culminated with her fully crossing over. The third time...she discovered something about your brother, Dean, something in his blood, I'm not overly clear on it. John wasn't very forthcoming, big surprise. By that time, she wasn't your mother anymore. It wasn't the same person at all."

"Where is she now?" Jack asked, looking Ben in the eyes. "Is she coming back again?" He supposed that Ben had kept him hidden from her and that was why he hadn't had his own encounter with her. This was a lot to take in. "Do me a favor." He said before Ben could answer him. "When you tell them ... Make them drive here. I need time to deal with all of this before dealing with them. "

"She's gone." Ben said. "Your father and I took care of that the last time she surfaced." He left out the part t hat it had nearly killed John, or that the things coming out of her mouth made Ben want to die. If only he could. "But I'll tell them to drive." He said standing up. "I know, I dumped a lot on you. And I wish I didn't have to." But all those outside forces...man they sucked.

"It's... Well... I'll be okay. Don't worry about that. It's just a shock is all. " He looked up at the man who had been like a father to him. No... Ben had been a father. The only father hehad ever known. "Thanks...for everything. Even if it did just start out as a stupid promise."

"It wasn't stupid." Ben said. "And I wouldn't have made it if I didn't want to." He was incredibly hard to trap into a promise. In fact no one had ever managed to trap him. "I'll go tell him. And since I'm playing messenger boy, you can clean up the kitchen."

Jack laughed and headed for the kitchen. Clean it up? He had yet to make the sandwich he had started to put together in the first place.

Sam was pacing nervously waiting for the demon to return. What if their brother wasn't interested in meeting them? Well he supposed it would be harder on both of them but he had to go. He should have never promised Dean that he wouldn't do it again, but that was before ... Before he realized exactly how bad his slide into darkness could be.

Ben flared into the room and looked at the brothers before going to get a piece of paper and a pencil stub. "I talked to him." Ben said. "He'll meet with you. But you have to drive." He said, writing down his address. No directions, just a street address. "Against my better judgement, he's going to try this." He said, handing the paper to Dean.

Dean looked at the paper. "Corpus Christi?" Dean said, and couldn't believe it. "YOU live in Corpus CHRISTI?"

"Last place a demon would be figured to be living, right?" Ben said with a chuckle.

"I suppose that makes a degree of sense." Sam said. "Texas huh, it'll take us a couple days to get there but we'll be there. Do we just show up or is there a number to call first?"

"Just show up." Ben said. "And if he decides he doesn't want to see you at the last moment, you leave. And if you skulk around my house I'll fry your asses back to Montana or wherever the hell we are."

"Fair enough." Dean said as Ben disappeared in flame again. "Oooh-kay. Now I see what Bobby means."

"Oh yeah. He made Dad seem humble." Sam said with a faint smile. "Well... It's a long drive to Texas. I'm gonna crash. " Sam said. He had a lot of thinking to do. Plans that had to be made. Things he wanted to do before he left. It made his heart sink into the pit of his stomach knowing that this was it... These were the last days he would be spending with his brother. Before when he had left it had always been with the thought that he would come back once things were sorted out. Once he had answers. Now he had the answers and now he had to go.

"Sure." Dean said. Something was up with Sam. Probably more than the long lost baby brother too. He just had to figure out what...in the morning. He was running on empty himself. "Wake me up when it's time to go." Since he planned to take a sleeping pill Bobby had offered him. For once, with no job on the table, he was going to sleep. And if he had those dreams again, so be it. He was going to sleep through them for once.

Sam lay down and stared at the ceiling in the dark. He had to make changes. Couldn't be recognizable by appearance or habit. Had to change his clothing, his look... And most of all he could never contact anyone he knew ever again. He swallowed the lump in his throat, feeling his eyes misting at the thought. He would leave behind everything but what he was wearing when he left. The cell phone could be traced, and he was sure Ash could find a way to track his computer if he got on. He would have to restock everything. Start over from scratch.

And he had to figure out something to tell Dean. A letter or something to explain so that he wouldn't think he was just abducted or possessed or some thing. Then where would he go? It was all so over whelming. But there was no hope. Dean couldn't save him. And Dean wouldn't kill him. Even if he needed to. So there was no choice.

Morning came far earlier than Dean wanted it to. He slept, drug induced, and woke up tangled in the blankets, his knife on the floor beside the bed, knocked ajar from the tossing and turning, but he'd slept. He felt like he had been run over by a train, and then the train backed up and ran over him again, but he slept.

No more sleeping pills for Dean, he swore to himself. Sam was already packing.

"Dude...why didn't you wake me up?" He muttered.

"You needed the sleep." Sam told him. It was the truth. Although that was only half of the reason. He had needed the extra time to pull the mask in to place. Dean saw him too clearly and he had to be careful if this was going to work. He had been through three pots of coffee and spent several hours on line researching places that he could go to start over. Places he could get lost in the masses... And death records. He needed a new ID. One that could stick with him for a while. He wouldn't be able to use their regular techniques to survive now. He thought he had a couple likely candidates and had contacted the friend of a friend of a friend of someone he barely knew in order to get the id's expedited. They were going to be good. Good enough that he wouldn't have to worry about who saw them. He was to pick them up in three days in Dallas.

"Yeah, whatever." Dean said as he untangled himself from the blankets and headed off to the shower to try and fully wake up. They had another road trip to go on. This one...to meet a brother his father had sired with a girl who had tried to kill Dean once. Terrorized Sam. And he still had no idea what happened the second time.

He hoped Jack didn't look like his mother.

Sam kept the conversation light as they drove to Texas.He didn't want their last few days together to be marred by arguing or moping. That wasn't how he wanted things to end. It had ended that way with his father and it had nearly killed him afterwards dealing with the grief. He hoped that things went well with the meeting. He hoped that Dean and Jack bonded.

"Coming up on a town, you getting hungry?" He asked.

"Dude, I ran out of M&Ms a town back." Dean said with a chuckle, holding up the crumpled yellow peanut M&M bag. "Of course I'm starving. Definitely let's find us some place to eat. Then it's my turn to drive." The music had been tolerable. But anymore and the car would start to complain at the abuse she was undertaking. Even if Sam laughed that off and called the car possessed.

Sam found a truck stop that would offer better fare than a fast food joint. "I need to be out of the car for a little while anyway. We've made good time" he said as he pulled into a parking place and yawned. "we should get there late tonight. Check into a hotel and sleep till noon"

"Uptight? Dude, you're more tightly wound than a nun." Dean said. "You know, the nun that really wants to be sinful, but dammit, God won't let her. Did I ever tell you about this job I was working in Maine..." Dean said as they got a table and ordered some food. Because only Dean could weave a story about nearly making a nun break her vow of chastity and make it sound like none of it was his fault.

"Dude!" Sam said with a laugh. "You are SO going to hell for that!" He teased as the waitress brought over their menus and the obligatory pot of coffee. Leave it to Dean to seduce a nun. "Was Dad along on that ahm... Expedition or were you flying solo?"

"Completely flying solo. You know Dad would have decked me into next week had he even a clue of what I was doing." Dean said with a laugh. "But, bro, tellin' ya, she was hot. And they don't wear habits anymore. Complete waste of a woman on God, let me tell you."

"Depends on the order... And you are definitely going to hell." Sam laughed then. "Sometimes I think Dad was a closet Catholic." He told his brother. "Too much time slinging holy water I guess. Remember how he and Pastor Jim used to stay up arguing stuff like that? I would lay awake and listen to them, wondering why they were arguing when it all sounded like the same thing to me."

"Yeah, they'd go on for hours." Dean said. "This belief and that belief, this rule, that rule. Sounded to me like they were talking circles around each other. But they enjoyed it." Dean wasn't Catholic. Or religious. Or even really a true believer in anything. Just enough faith in everything to make the relics work for him, but other than that...he thought it was a load of crap. "And just think, kids used to think we were lucky because we got out of Sunday school. They'd never spent a month with Pastor Jim."

"I don't know... I kinda liked it at Jim's." Sam said. "I almost fit in there." He shook his head. "We'd go to Bobby's and you guys would be out there talking cars and guns and who killed what in how many seconds flat...and I couldn't even read the books! That was the worst of it. Bobby and Dad wouldn't let me touch a single book. " He laughed. "Jim was different. He let me be me. Wanted me to be a kid more than I was interested in but I could forgive that. Had a lot of fun at both places though, didn't we? Giving what ever monster dog Bobby had at the time a bath... I swear that dog was bigger than both of us combined!"

"You know, I still wouldn't give Rumsfeld a bath. No matter how much you paid me." Dean said with a chuckle. "Yeah those were good times. You know, in between the endless drives, and you and Dad fighting...all the time. Looking back, some of your fights were down right hilarious." Because they'd be over stupid stuff, just to see how much Sam could push, and how much Dad would push back. "Pastor Jim's was good, you know, until he would make us sit in the back of the church to keep an eye on us while he did his real life job." Sitting that still for that long with no real pay off...used to drive Dean nuts.

"You couldn't sit still to save your soul." Sam said laughing. "And I wasn't helping." He admitted, although at the time he had denied that he was doing anything at all to antagonize his brother. It was a juvenile stunt but at the time they had both been juveniles. Juvenile delinquents to hear some people talk about it but they hadn't been that bad really. Better than a lot of their classmates that was for damned sure. They both had a healthy survival instinct and their father wasn't above tanning their hides when needed.

"You were a complete brat. Definitely didn't help." Dean said as their food arrived. He was hungry, he hadn't even cared what he ordered. "Okay, so we get to there, we hit a bar. Feels almost like what normal people do, doesn't it?" They'd never been 'normal' and Sam had been the best at passing himself off as 'normal.' But some activities just crossed lifestyle lines. Getting a beer with your brother was one of them.

Sam smiled at the waitress and dug into his food as she left. "Pretty much." He said with a smile. "Although I suppose for what we are... We're fairly normal-ish." He said laughing. "Except for that whole being on the most wanted list and having done nothing wrong... And the whole not being human thing ... Or that never staying in one place ever thing... Yep... We're fairly normalish." He laughed then, and nearly choked having to take a drink of his soda.

Dean gave him a dark look. "You're human." He said. "I don't care what you think, you're human. Why...why are we always coming back to this? Dude...you're my brother. I don't care what else you think you are, or some idiot says you are, you're my brother. And...as much as your Jedi mind powers completely freak me out sometimes, you're human."

"That idiot you are referring to is our father when he told you I am like Maggie. And that woman was not human no matter how you try and look at it. And you're right, I shouldn't have brought it up but it wasn't a ... I don't know... I wasn't whining about it. It's just something that is. Okay... I'm sorry. " Just another reason Sam had to go. If Dean couldn't even accept that basic reality, then there was no way he could do what had to be done when the time came.

Dean picked at his food. "She started out human. You heard Bobby. And that Ben guy. I just have to make sure, you know, help you NOT go that way. Won't be hard, because you're my brother, and we're not the bad guys. And Dad was an ass." Laying this down on him like that. And Sam was only too happy to keep making it heavier.

"I'm sorry, Dean." Sam said, feeling like a heel now. "That shouldn't be your job. Dad shouldn't have told you. He should have told me. Not fair to you doesn't even begin to describe it. And if it wasn't hard, you wouldn't look ... Like it's too much. But it is... And you need to let go. I'm sorry I made you make that promise. I won't hold you to it... And I won't hold you to any asinine promise Dad made you make either. Just... Just let it go. This whole insane mess... Just let it go for now. We have more important things going on."

"Exactly. Like seeing if you can outdrink me finally." Dean said with his usual grin. He wasn't letting anything go, and he had no intention on keeping his promise either. He'd save Sam, however it was to happen, and life would continue on. It was that easy, because Dean was going to make it that easy.

"And it's a crying shame we can't test Juniors drinking skills too." Sam said. "We found him a year too soon... Or something like that anyway. " He finished his food and pushed the plate aside. "So are you nervous about it? The meeting?"

"Yeah, like either of us waited until we were twenty one to drink." Dean scoffed. "If he hasn't at all, I'm going to seriously doubt his parentage." He twisted a french fry in his ketchup for a minute. "Nah." He said finally. "Not yet. I don't know, if we all get along, we get along. If we don't, it's not like it'll be this big hole in my life that I'll never be able to fill." Like if Sam wasn't there or something. "Guess I just need to meet him and that's it. Don't get me wrong, I hope it goes well."

"Yeah. But we don't have fake ID's for a third Winchester, so we'll have to do that round of drinking in private I guess. Wow... Do you realize we actually drink... A lot?" Sam said with a laugh. Not that he was surprised by it really. Their father drank heavily after a job. Or on any occasion that reminded him of their mother. It just seemed to be the way things were for hunters.

Sam knew that his leaving was going to hurt Dean. He also knew that Jack wouldn't fill that hole for him right away, but he would at least give him someone else to need him around. Dean needed to be needed more than anything else in the world. And it wasn't that Sam didn't need him. It was that he didn't want to see him hurt. Not by his own actions.

"Well, it's all relative." Dean said with a chuckle. "We also have way different jobs than anyone else in the world. I mean, maybe the Marines come close. Dad thought so, just a little. Okay, we all tend to drink." He said. "But hey, it's good for sleep, great for pain, and an awesome conversation starter with a pretty girl. Better than 'what did you do today?' or 'so what do you do for a living?'"

"You know... There are other places to meet girls than in bars." Sam pointed out. "Girls that might actually accept what we do." It would be great to think of Dean having a family, even if it were a strange quasifunctional family. "You don't want to end up like Dad... That would suck. We all deserve better than dying alone like that." Sure they had been there but that wasn't what he meant by alone.

"Don't plan on it." Dean said. But in his view point, hunters weren't long lived. The fact that John lived until both Dean and Sam were into adulthood was an amazement upon himself. So, often, it was better to be alone, because there were less people to leave behind when your number was finally called. And it was always called. He, himself, he knew he was living on borrowed time as it was. "Also don't plan on settling down any time soon, so no reason to tell some girl what I do."

"There are women who do what we do...and I am sure not all of them are psycho." He said, with a laugh. "Has to be at least one out there that isnt a man eater." He thought it was sad that the Winchester line wasn't even going to continue on with the Winchester name. "Gotta get Junior to change his last name to Winchester. Other wise... We're it man. It ends with us."

"Well, then, Sammy...guess we better finish all our business before you're all dried up...cause damn, we're going ot have to find you a pretty little wife that wants a dozen kids and a few dogs." Dean said. "Because that whole white picket fence thing, gives me hives. Way too many things for a woman to accept about me. Like, uh, the whole America's Most Wanted thing. The I'm technically legally dead thing. The whole demon and spirit hunting business. The fact that she would never rate above my car. Dude, I'm better off single."

"Nah... I'm too much like Dad. One woman for me and well... We know how that ended." Sam lied. He still loved Jessica but he knew that he could move on. If it were for that whole screwed up gonna turn all shadowy and evil someday crap "That and you know the demon would just kill anyone that has a chance of keeping me all bright and shiny. Not looking for a string of dead lovers, thanks."

"Uh huh." Dean said, non committedly. The demon hadn't managed to kill EVERYBODY. Dean was still alive, and their father had killed himself. The demon might have had a hand in it, but John was dead because John arranged for himself to be dead. "Come on." He said, laying some money on the table. "Let's cover more blacktop so we have more time for drinking."

Sam nodded and got to his feet. "You get to drive this time. My turn to nap." He said giving Dean back his keys to the Impala. The demon had tried to kill Dean. Sam remembered all too well the cabin where they had found John was possessed. The only reason he wasn't Dead was because John had fought hard to be in control of his own body just long enough for Sam to get the colt.

"Finally." Dean said with a laugh as he took the keys as they got into the car. He moved the journals to the backseat to make room for Sam and unhooked the jury rigged connection between Sam's computer and the Impala's tape deck. Then he reached for his box of tapes and sorted through them until he found one that would help cleanse his car of the torture Sam had put it through for the last several hours. "Texas bars here we come."

Sam laughed and shook his head. "Lush." He teased as he settled in and leaned his head against the warm window. Strange, he was going to miss this car. He was going to miss the familiar feel of it all. The sounds and smells. It was almost overwhelming all that he would be leaving behind.

Dean laughed off the comment as he pulled back onto the road, blaring the radio. He sang along, but the radio was so loud, no one could tell if he was off key or not. Which was probably the point. After a few more hours of loud music, bathroom stops and gas fill ups, he found the first motel and pulled in, finally turning the radio down. "We made good time." He said with a laugh.

Sam rubbed his face with one hand. "That's because Christine travels faster in the painful decibels." He said with a smile as he got out. "I get the shower first." He told Dean as he reached in to get his bags.

"Yeah, yeah." Dean said as he grabbed his bag. The first thing he did was pop the hood and check the fluids. Because it had been a long drive after all. Pretty much straight through. Had to make sure everything was still okay, which it was. Then he carefully shut the hood and threw his bag on the bed. "Hurry up!" He called out. He wanted some hot water after all.

Sam finished up and shaved before getting dressed and heading out into the bedroom leaving Dean the steamy bathroom, with enough hot water for a long shower. Sam wanted the time alone to do a little research on his computer. Misleading research since he planned to leave the computer behind.

"Finally." Dean said. "You're such a girl." He said with a chuckle as he made his way into the bathroom and turned the shower back on, flinging his clothes onto the floor before stepping under the stream of hot water.

He loved his car. But too long in the Impala made for some stiffness, even he'd admit that. And they'd gone on a whirlwind drive from Bobby's to Texas, so stiff didn't even really cover it as he adjusted the shower head to hit that sweet spot between his shoulder blades.

Nervous? Hell yeah. Some mysterious brother that shared half their genes had been out there the entire time. Being raised by a demon on top of it. There was this huge chance that Jack had turned out even more screwed up than Dean and Sam, if it were possible. This meeting could go all different ways of wrong. But he'd committed to it, because he figured that's what his father wanted. And Dean usually did what his father wanted or ordered. The man being dead didn't change that at all, no matter what Sam thought.

Sam was always able to circumvent the old man though. Which just, in retrospect, made Dean try all the harder to be the good soldier. As if to make it up to John.

He pushed all the words the demon had said to him out of his mind. Demons twisted things to hurt you when they needed to, or even just wanted to. He knew that. He did.

Sam had to have hope about this new brother. Because he had to believe that there was something in the kid that would draw out Dean's big brother instincts. Which were larger than his survival instincts to put it mildly. Dean was going to need this kid. Sam just hoped there was a way to make sure they sorted it all out and bonded.

He lay out trails on the computer to three different locations. Even placed a couple of phone calls on the hotel phone while his brother was in the shower. Checking out lodgings on the west coast. But with the cell he called one in Idaho, that had a history of supposed hauntings. The cell he would leave behind although not in an obvious fashion. He knew that Dean would see through some of the subterfuge, which was why he had to lay the extra layer. It seemed paranoid and almost excessive to him but Sam knew his brother. Anything too obvious he would discount completely.

Dean lingered in the shower. Until it was finally time to get out. Only then did he remember the point of taking a shower, which was to get clean. So he hurried with the soap and got out before it was too unbearably cold. Drying off and redressing. "Okay, ready to go out?" He said as cheerfully as he could when he got out of the shower. "Come on, you know the girls are waiting. Even if they don't know they're waiting."

Sam laughed. "So much for drinking together." He teased. "Long legs and long hair and you'll forget all about me." He said as he got up and grabbed his cell phone and wallet. "And I know how much of a drag this is gonna be but maybe we should avoid the obligatory brawl tonight. Don't want the kid thinking we're a couple of... I don't know... Delinquents or something."

"Well, I can't promise no brawls." Dean said with a grin. "How about I promise just not to start one?" Contrary to popular belief, he didn't start all the brawls. Sometimes, he just happened to get caught in the middle of a bigger situation. "And no sneaking off with women, promise."

Sam grinned. "Fair enough." He said. "You get to pick the bar. " He told him. Sam was no stranger to bars. He had spent a good deal of time in them at Stanford. They were just different than the ones Dean would want to pick. "But I am so kicking your ass at darts tonight." Pool he doubted he could best his hustler brother.

"You are, are you?" Dean said with a chuckle as he grabbed his jacket. "Come on, let's see what this town has to offer." They'd gotten a motel in a bar district, and they were probably better off on foot anyway,he'd never risk the Impala like that!

Sam nodded. "Yes, I am." He said as he followed his brother out the door. "Well, they don't look too bad around here. Let's start with that one." Sam suggested pointing to one that looked like it was at least well cared for. "We can give a few a try tonight, see which one we want to sneak Junior into tomorrow night."

"Yeah, watch. He'll be anti alcohol and straight edge or something." Dean said with a laugh as they headed into the bar Sam indicated. "Then I'll really doubt his paternity. Cause damn, a Winchester that can't hold his alcohol has no excuse over the age of, I don't know, two."

Sam laughed. "There is that." He said. "I don't know... Dad's genetics tend to show through pretty strongly, I would say." The two of them were living proof of that. Dean could use one of his father's old pictures for an ID and no one would look twice. Sam had a lot of his features mixed in that you could only really see if you looked at them individually. Then there was temperament. "I got the feeling he is going to out attitude both of us. Given his parents AND being raised by Ben... If he is milk toast... I say we disown him and hit the road." Not that Sam would do any such thing. He'd get those two to bond if he had to lock them in a ...no... He would never do that. Amusing though it may be in stories, being locked in a closet lost something in the translation to reality.

"Deal." Dean said, though the likelihood of that was pretty much nil, he'd say. Because Sam was right. His father...was a strong man. Right down to his genes. He looked around the bar. "Hello Texas." He said with a grin. "Yeah, yeah, I know. No leaving with one of them. We can look though. God, can we look."

"Absolutely." Sam said as he looked around. There was definitely nothing wrong with looking. He even enjoyed looking with a relatively guilt free conscience. In fact it was getting easier to do all the time. Of course the dreams of Jessica were happening less frequently as well.

He pointed out a likely table. One a little off of what appeared to be the center of the bars action. All bars had them. The sweet spot where it always seemed to be lively. Lively could be raucous laughter... Or it could be the beginnings of a brawl depending on the bar. Sam didn't want to take any chances, so when he spotted the center of activity... He steered a little clear of it.

Dean sat at the table. "Now here's normal behavior for a Winchester. Drinking and girls." He said with a chuckle as a blonde came over to the table with her note pad.

She was young, out of high school, maybe early college, with the requisite shorts, sneakers and tank top with the bar emblem on the front of it. The bar was actually full of them of various heights and hair colors. But she gave them a sweet smile.

"What can I get you boys?" She asked.

"Depends on what you're offering." Dean replied with a grin.

Sam shook his head a little. Dean wasn't exactly out of his league with this one, but the fact was she looked more like the type of girl who would be seen in public with him than his brother. He smiled, letting his dimples show. "What ever you recommend is fine with me." He told her. He was obvious that he was appreciative of her appearance but not so blatantly as Dean's normal technique. He opted for the shy yet attracted approach. This wasn't hunting for a real date, or a mate for life. Playing the game like any other con was acceptable here. The boys worked a different crowd when it came to women. Sam was betting this one was more his crowd. Laid back, easy going, midwest charm was usually the kicker for both brothers but this was Texas. Half the room had that going for them.

She smiled at the men, flashing dimples of her own. "We've got a good local beer on tap." She said. "Your normal selection of bottled beers. And the bartender makes a hell of a Sangria." Because friendliness meant tips. And tips was the only reason to be a waitress because the pay was pretty much crap.

Oh she'd had the experience of guys reading it wrong. But if she couldn't handle it herself and the bouncers were occupied, she also had her boyfriend on speed dial!

"When in Texas..." Dean said with a chuckle. "We'll take two of the locals."

Sam nodded. "Sounds good." He said. He had to admit the girl was genuinely pretty. Not just cute around the edges or trashy enough to make up for certain flaws in hopes of a early pay off on minimal investment. He was glad they had a rule that they weren't leaving with anyone tonight. She had a look about her that made him feel a little protective, not that he knew exactly why.

She smiled and headed over to the bar to put their order in. "And if we and Junior hate each other with a passion, we can always come back here and drown our sorrows." Dean said with a chuckle. "Okay, so we drive up there in the morning, see what we know." Nope, Dean wasn't nervous.

"What sorrows?" Sam asked, feeling just as nervous as his brother. "We don't even know this guy. Okay so Dad and the evil bitch from hell spawned... In the back seat of your car... Doesn't mean we have to grieve if he doesn't want us around. Besides you just want to come back here for the waitress." He said. "You know, I don't think she's you're type." He said, trying to keep a straight face. "I mean... She can form complete sentences and everything." Sam leaned back a little in his chair.

"Okay. You say I'm obsessed with the car, you keep bringing her up in every single conversation. Besides, those seats have been reupholstered more times than you've gotten laid, so no big deal. I'm sure I've managed to wipe clean any memory of hell bitch and Dad with my own escapades, thank you very very much." Dean said with a chuckle. "And you know, just grieve over the whole wasted trip, more mileage on my car, things like that. Course, we could play it up and make ourselves seem really wounded by the whole thing. Girls LOVE that whole thing. And just because she can form complete sentences doesn't mean anything. Can she spell? She is blonde after all."

"And so are you." The waitress said, putting down their drafts. "Just for that I get a really big tip." She said with another smile. She was used to the blonde comments, she'd been getting them since she was a child after all, like all blondes tended to do.

"You'll have to forgive my brother." He said laughing. "His feet aren't quite big enough to stop him from talking no matter how much he tries " He paid for the beer and the tip, a decent tip. "I promise he isn't always a jerk."

"Oooh, ouch." Dean said laughing as he drank his beer. "It's the dark hair, he thinks it means intelligence."

The waitress took the money and put it in her apron pocket. "Okay. Forgiven. Signal if you guys need anything. You know, like help on your spelling homework."

Sam smiled at her. "I'll let you know if he has trouble with the big words." He looked at Dean once she had moved on. "I told you she wasn't your type. Too smart for you. Although I guess that's your loss. " He said, that smile actually reaching his eyes. Not that he was saying his brother wasn't smart. He was saying that with the exception of Cassie every woman he had seen Dean with had the IQ of a pet rock.

"Dude, that's because I'm never in town long enough for a deep philosophical discussion. I leave that to you." Dean said with a laugh. "Besides, we're just drinking and checking out the scenery. Believe me, if I were really interested, I could have turned on the charm easily. And not made blonde comments on top of it. But she's cute. Why, is she more 'your' type? It's the blonde thing, isn't it?"

"It's not the blonde thing. Although she does kind of remind me of Jess in some ways. I mean Sarah isn't blonde." He pointed out "I think it's just... I don't know... She looks like a college girl... Things to talk about ya know... Important when the scenery isn't all I'm are checking out."

Psychologists could have a field day with this one. Their mother had been blonde. Jess was blonde. Sam never knew his mother, had only seen pictures. Whereas Dean deliberately seemed to go after women who couldn't remotely resemble their mother (like Cassie, with her biracial heritage for a good example).

Luckily, Dean wasn't a shrink.

"You're the only one I know who goes into a bar hoping for a deep and meaningful conversation." Dean said, shaking his head, laughing. "But you want to swing up to New York next then?"


	2. Chapter 2

_A/N welcome back! It took us a little longer to get this chapter out than we had thought but I hope people think its worth the wait. People have voiced concerns about the additional brother, and the boys being separated. Let me assure you Jack isn't going to interfere with the brothers dynamic and you know they cant be apart forever. Its all about the journey to getting them back to where they need to be. _

_I hope you enjoy the continuing story, and please let us know what you do and don't like. The only way we know is if you tell us, so please R&R! _

"You're the only one I know who goes into a bar hoping for a deep and meaningful conversation." Dean said, shaking his head, laughing. "But you want to swing up to New York next then?"

"I tend to only go to bars for 2 reasons, neither of which is picking up girls." Sam said with a laugh as he drank his beer. "Looking however is always an option."

"Sometimes I have no idea how we're related." Dean said, shaking his head. "But at least we're both looking, right? That's male bonding at its finest I think."

Sam laughed again. "I'm just not the one night stand sort of guy. I want more from a woman. " He shrugged. "You, however, are a man whore." He teased. Dean wasn't that bad... Not really. It just seemed that way if you didn't know him. Dean was just trying to find what he was missing.

"Hey I'm just enjoying myself is all. Figure after everything we've been through, you know the shit I really can't talk about to pretty much anyone, the least I deserve is the temporary company of a beautiful willing woman." Dean said with a smirk. "Anything more than that, I don't know, then I have to start telling her shit. Then it goes back tot he same pattern where I tell her the truth, she thinks I'm lying, we get in a fight and I drive off. Way too dramatic for me."

"You know she believes you now. No reason you can't ... I don't know... Swing by and see her sometimes. There has to be something to hunt in the general direction every now and again." He liked Cassie. Thought that she and Dean would be good for each other if Dean could just settle down a bit. Other hunters had homes. Some even had families that were more normal than theirs had been. There was no reason Dean couldn't have a woman that meant more than getting his rocks off.

Dean laughed. "Yeah, okay." Dean said. "I like my life, thanks though. You can keep the white picket fence for yourself." Because Sam was stubborn enough to get what he wanted, if he wanted it. Dean, he had memories of the white picket fence in Kansas . And he remembered all too harshly what it felt like when the white picket fence burned to the ground.

Sam barely kept the bitterness out of his laugh, or the sadness out of his eyes. Dean had spent a lot of time through out their childhood trying to convince Sam that it wasn't his fault that his mother was dead. That it was the demon's fault. Even their father jumped on that bandwagon when it was shoved in his face that Sam felt to blame. But now they knew it wasn't true. He was to blame. The demon had answered that question honestly. Logic played it out clearly. Any woman that Sam loved, or could be loved by, would be taken from him by the demon. Sam had no more chance at a white picket fence than he did anything else he really wanted in life. " Yeah. I can tell." He said to the first statement, leaving the latter alone. They were out to have fun. One last boys' night out, just the two of them before it was over.

"Come on... I'll let you beat me at pool before I kick your ass at darts." Sam said with a grin.

"Let me win? You couldn't beat me if you tried." Dean said with a laugh. He'd been hustling pool since he was a child, strange all the things their father had taught them!

Sure, he could also make a point on head shot with one hand using a gun, but darts, Sam had a chance at beating him at. "Come on, if you're a really good boy, I won't even take your money."

"Considering it came out of your wallet to begin with... Take away if you think you can." Of course the actual cash funds were an almost communal thing most of the time even if divided up between them. So it was more of a running joke than any actual theft. Just another of the many things they had been taught through the years in order to survive. Sam had other funds squirreled away that he had been putting back for this run. A little extra cash off the cards here and there that he had turned into travelers checks. Not impossible to trace but he would have to know about them first and then where they were purchased.

Sam had been doing this since the first time he had tried to flee from Dean. It had been several months since then, and he had been careful, figuring if Dean's optimism paid off before Sam's desperation took control, it was a nest egg for lean times. If not... Well... It meant that he wouldn't be taking half his brother's ill gotten but necessary cash flow with him.

He knew he had no choice really, this was the only way, but he still felt like a heel. Especially when Dean was enjoying himself so much. When the weight of it all wasn't resting so obviously on his shoulders, when his eyes didn't show the strain. But Sam knew it was there, and that it would break him one day, even if the demon didn't kill him first.

And Dean was enjoying himself. He felt lighter, today was a good day. Sam wasn't all melancholy and talking about how things would just be easier if...(fill in the blank for whatever stupid idea Sam had at any given time on that subject). Sure, tomorrow was going to be tense. Right now, it wasn't. He was at a bar, having a good time, and even his brother seemed to be having a good time. That was enough for the moment. For Dean had learned the hard way to just appreciate moments. Because moments were the only thing that ever really happened.

He kicked Sam's ass at pool. Then a few other patrons (building up their cash reserve, always important), and nearly beat Sam at darts. At least that's what he'd say. He'd also use the excuse that he was drinking more, and Sam was taller.

"Come on, Sasquatch. If we're going to meet the mysterious brother, you definitely need your beauty sleep." He said with a chuckle as he gave their waitress an extra tip. "In case we come back tomorrow." He said with a wink. She gave both the brothers an amused look but pocketed the cash. Because, well, cash was cash. And she was off tomorrow night anyway!

"Y'all come back now." She said with her sweet smile.

"There is a happy college boy in this town somewhere, waiting on her to get off work."

Sam said as they started the walk back toward the hotel. That thought strangely pleased him. That there were people content and happy in their lives. People that would never know that they lived in danger every day. Would go for moonlit walks with their lovers in the park without packing silver and holy water. "This was fun." He said, nodding to himself. That thought pleased him as well. He had succeeded in one task at least.

"Yeah it was. We should, I don't know, make a habit of it, don't you think?" Dean said. Because tonight had been fun, felt like they were normal brothers without the fate of the world resting on them. "Even if we might be a trio at times, we should do this again."

"Yeah. I would like that a lot." And he would, if it were possible. Right up there with a home and a family of his own. Maybe even a career that didn't involve killing things on a regular basis. They were all wonderful beautiful things to want, that were never going to be. "Here's hoping Junior has similar thoughts."

"And if he doesn't, well, there's still two of us, right?" Dean said, letting an edge of hope invade his voice, as if things would someday calm down and they could pretend to be normal in the stifling confines of their completely abnormal life. Maybe one day.

"Always." Sam said. And in his own way he meant it. So long as Dean was safe, then there was two of them. He couldn't guarantee his brother's safety if he were there. He didn't know what that catalyst would be that would drive him to become a monster. To go from a human being to a creature of nothing but shadow, anger and rage. "You know... no matter what happens..." He said looking over at his brother.

"Absolutely." Dean said. Refusing to acknowledge the undercurrent. Because that would open up a whole discussion that had no place tonight, since it was a good night. "So, how about a hair cut before we meet Junior, so he doesn't think you're just a weird looking girl?"

"Over my dead body." Sam said as always. "Just because you look like a girl with long hair doesn't mean I do." Sam said. "Probably cause you're short... Or maybe it's that whole fat lip thing you have going on." He teased, letting it drop. Dean would know what he had meant later, and it was good. He had said that he loved his brother in that strange lack of saying it way Winchesters had. They had both learned that particular language from their father who rarely spoke of things such as love unless one of them was near death. And even then... It was different.

"Fine." Dean said. "Samantha." He cracked with a grin as they returned to their hotel room. "Come on, let's sleep this off, then be bright and bushy tailed for Junior."

"Whatever you say, shrimp." Sam said returning the smile and heading straight for his bed. He was genuinely enjoying himself but keeping up the appearances was exhausting, and he had been doing it for quite some time. He had tried to make Dean understand, to talk to him about it but Dean was determined to make it disappear under the carpet. He couldn't deal with it. Not that Sam blamed him. No one in their right mind would be able to deal with what their father dumped on him. Probably what drove his father half insane as it was. "Good night, Dean."

"'Night Sam." Dean said as he climbed into his own bed. It was a tiring day, trying to figure out what was going on in Sam's head. And he was no closer than he had been before. It was something, though. That much he knew. But he rolled over and went to sleep. The next day would be just as tiring, if not more so.

Which was why he was glad he was rested (as much as he ever was) when he woke up the next morning. And threw his pillow at Sam. "Come on. Time to get up." He said as he headed off into the shower.

Sam pretended to fuss as Dean went into the shower first but took the opportunity to make sure anything he absolutely couldn't leave behind was packed. Then sat down at the computer and started to go through the files, deleting anything that could lead his brother in the right direction when he woke the next morning.

This was tearing him apart inside. This was forever. There was no turning back this time. It was too dangerous to stay. Sam remembered all too clearly what Maggie had been like. The only times he had ever seen real fear in Dean's eyes was when Maggie was around. Or when flying but... That had been about Maggie too really. He had seen his father broken and lost because of what had happened with Maggie.

Sam would become like her one day. He would turn into something evil and twisted. Something made of shadows and hate. If he were near his brother when that happened, who knew what he would do? Hell, he had tried to shoot him once already. What would he do next?

Dean's mind was clear. Sure, the weight was still there. Sure they were meeting the long lost brother this morning. And still, it was clear. So he showered, brushed his teeth and dressed. Today was a normal day. Lots of people all over the world were meeting their half siblings for the first time right now. That was normal. Unusual, but normal. Probably what Sam needed.

"Your turn." He said, coming out. "Even left you hot water. Because I'm an awesome brother."

Sam looked up at Dean and smiled, laughing a little. "Yeah...right." He said although that old look was there in his eyes. The one that had been there when they were little. This was his brother, and brother meant so much more to Sam than it did to anyone else out there in the world, he was certain. Brother was father and mother, best friend and teacher. Brother was his security blanket when the nightmares came. Brother was hero. More than their father, more than any superhero worshipped in childhood. Yeah, he was an awesome brother.

God it was going to be hard with out him.

Sam showered quickly and dressed. All of his hopes for Dean rested in him bonding with this new brother today. So from now until the point that Dean passed out in his bed, snoring in deep sleep, that was Sam's project. Nothing else mattered. Because like most heroes... Dean needed to be needed.

"Okay." He said stepping out of the bathroom. "Food first? Or drag him off to breakfast and coffee on neutral non demon controlled territory."

"We'll get something on the way." Dean said, digging through his bag until he came up with the address. "Just in case we can't convince him to leave the demon controlled territory." He said with a chuckle. "That way we don't pass out from starvation." He grabbed his keys and the motel pass card. "Now or never I guess."

Sam made a show of considering those two options before heading out the door of the hotel room. "Grab something full of fat and calories on the way." Sam said, both being great comfort food... Stress management food. The sugar binge would come later that night.

"Sounds good." Dean said as they headed to the car.

------

Ben was smoking, he must have been on his third pack of the day by now. But he looked at Jack across the living room. "You don't have to do this." He reminded him again. Sure, Jack had all the protection in place. Two buffers for two people, his girlfriend and Ben. Jack could handle this. The question was, did he really want to?

"I know." Jack said. He had considered that option through the night. Just saying no. Sorry, too little too late. Not your fault but not going there. He had. But he remembered his father when those two had been out in the wasteland. Remembered the sad and desperate man that stood sentinel waiting for any sign that those two would come back. It hurt. John had wanted nothing to do with him. Didn't even bother to tell his brothers he existed until just before he died. That was strangely a slap in the face. Not that he could explain to anyone why he felt that way. But it was. One final rejection by his father. It was okay for the brothers to know about him now because John would no longer have to deal with him even from a distance. "I want to." He said taking a deep breath. "Not saying I'm signing up for the Winchester fan club or even expecting more than a polite visit. But if I don't, I'll regret it later in life."

Ben nodded. He had to give Jack's brothers credit. They had sought him out. That meant something, whatever John's failings were. "All right. Then I promise I won't set them on fire." He said with a quick grin.

"Eww." Kaylie said, coming in from the kitchen. She'd made coffee. And pastries. And barely stopped herself from making little swans out of the napkins. Because when

she was nervous she reverted back to high school Home Ec. And she was nervous for Jack, even if Jack wasn't going to show it. "Okay, my father's been running the barbeque smoker for the past week. The last thing I want to smell is burning flesh of ANY kind." It had taken a lot of faith on Kaylie's part, but she'd come to terms with what Ben was. Fiery flashes of temper (luckily not against her personally) had helped convince her of course.

Jack laughed at that. "No need to flambé the hunter boys. I am sure they will be ... Less than flame worthy. Not sure I have any other expectations than that." They had loved their father that was a certainty. If nothing else their trek across the wasteland to save him was proof of that.

He drew in a deep breath when the door bell rang. "You ahm... Want to get that because if I jump up every time the door bell rings I am going to be insane before they get here." His first sign of nervousness.

Ben looked at Kaylie. "You can get it. Because if it's another freaking girl scout selling cookies, there will be fire." He said. Besides, Kaylie looked nice and harmless, and for the most part she was.

"Oh fine." Kaylie said. "You know, I don't even live here." She reminded Ben.

"You're still doing the dishes. You dirtied them." He shot back. Because if there was one thing he hated, it was kitchen work of any kind.

Kaylie opened the door and just stared at the two men on the door step. "Um...wow." She said. Wow at the coincidence. They had better be Jack's brothers, because she certainly wasn't going to appreciate being followed to her boyfriend's house from her job.

"Okay. Thanks." Dean said, confused, but checking the address again. It was right. This was the house. Unless the demon had tricked them, because Ben hadn't looked too happy with the idea in the first place. "We're, ah, looking for Jack Hsaio."

"Oh!" Kaylie said. "Yeah, you're expected. Come on in." She said.

"Hi." Sam said actually blushing a little now. "I don't imagine you're helping Jack with his spelling homework." He said, making light of his own embarrassment. If you couldn't laugh at yourself, you had no business laughing. This actually boded well, as far as Sam was concerned. A friendly, sweet and seemingly intelligent girlfriend usually meant the guy was all right. Well either that or a total jerk he would have to save the girl from later, but she didn't seem the type to be with that sort of guy.

He let the young woman lead them inside and to the dining room table. He nodded to Ben, in greeting, and looked at Jack. He could see Maggie in him, but he could also see their father. In fact he looked a hell of a lot like their father in spite of the faint oriental cast of features. "Ahm... Hi." He said extending his hand. "I'm Sam and this is Dean. " He

didn't know how much Jack remembered of their brief meeting. He knew that they didn't remember anything of it.

Jack rose and took his hand. "Hi." He said in return, barely stopping himself from introducing himself like a dork. There would be no confusion on who he was. "Ahm... Have a seat. Kaylie has been cooking since oh... What? 6 this morning?" He asked her with a grin, and nodded toward the pastry all over the table.

Sam looked like someone he might like, someone he would talk to if they ran into each other on campus. He seemed approachable and friendly. He had that fluffy puppy look to him. Dean however... Dean carried himself like a hunter. It wasn't something you could really describe when asked. There were men of all sorts that walked confidently. Less, but still not a small portion carried themselves as though they were deadly and didn't comprehend fear. There was a balance between wary and dangerous in a hunter. Something in the eyes more than anything else. Although this one... This one didn't scream predator. This one didn't make his hackles rise... Yet.

Jack extended his hand to his eldest brother, meeting his gaze, just in case he was wrong. Just in case this was a wolf in German Shepherd's clothing. Jack wasn't about to be prey In his own home. "It's good to meet you again. I ahm... Don't remember the first time. I remember that I did but not the details." He admitted.

"Hi." Dean said, greeting him with a firm hand shake. He was uncomfortable. Because he didn't have any expectations on this meeting, didn't have any plan. And contrary to popular belief, most of the time Dean wasn't comfortable winging it. He wasn't comfortable with ambiguity.

But at least there was more of their father than his mother in the young man's face. And stature. That had been one of Dean's fears, that this youngest brother of his would be a dead masculine ringer for Maggie. He probably would have walked out.

"I don't remember either." Dean said. "Then again, I heard I got knocked on the head pretty good, so..." He shrugged as he and Sam sat down. "So...wow. This is...weird."

Jack laughed a little at that. "Yeah, it's pretty awkward." He said. "I heard that John passed on. I'm sorry to hear that." He was sincere about that. No matter what hurt he had felt from John's apparent rejection (which he thought he was beginning to understand now that he knew the truth about his mother.) "And you know... Eventually I will have questions about him and what have you. But this isn't about my parents... I have reasons to be angry with our father and you have reasons to ... Hate my mother beyond all reason." He said more than a little uncomfortable with saying that little bit. He still had trouble reconciling the evil monster he had just learned that she had become with the woman who had loved him more than apparently her own soul. "This meeting isn't about them... It's about getting to know each other. " He hoped that stopped any potential conversations about his mother. Because to him... At least emotionally, she had never changed. She had been a good woman and a loving mother and anyone that pushed

anything different would probably find out the hard way whether or not he could handle himself in a fist fight.

"Yup." Dean said with a nod. "So...where do we start?" They didn't hand out guides to this sort of thing. His foot tapped a little until he realized his leg was jiggling and he consciously made it stop. "Guess I should apologize first off. We kinda hit on your girl last night. Does it count if we didn't know she was attached? Especially to our long lost brother?"

Jack raised an eyebrow at that. "Well that isn't exactly where I saw the conversation going but... Okay." He said and glanced over at Kaylie to make sure that they hadn't been obnoxious to her in the process. "If she doesn't have any complaints we're good." Jack said. "So long as you don't make a habit of it." He said with a faint laugh. Somehow he didn't see that happening.

Sam smiled a little. "So... I guess we're at a loss on how to go about this. There are so many things to ask that I don't even know where to begin."

Jack nodded. "I know. Same here. Okay... Ahm... Okay... You know about Kaylie... How about you two? Girlfriends? Wives... Other partner type people?"

Kaylie shook her head slightly, they weren't a problem. The normal friendly, flirtatious but not overbearing customers. The ones she usually forgot about as soon as she clocked out.

Dean poured himself some coffee. Caffeine would be good, help calm the nerves, right? "Ah, nope. Not from me. I'm kinda anti relationship, way too much time on the road."

"My ahm... " Sam said taking a deep breath. "Ah... Jessica was killed a while back. I haven't gotten involved with any one since that. Not ready." He said honestly. Although it had been long enough that it wasn't so much mourning Jess (even if he did still miss her terribly) but fear of the demon killing someone else special to him. Someone he would see as in the way.

"I'm sorry." Jack said "Was it because of the hunting?"

Sam shook his head. "No, I had quit hunting and was going to college at that point. "

"Oh! Jack's going to college now." Kaylie said.

"He is." Ben said with a nod, with pride. Jack had turned out well, surprisingly. And Ben, for his own ego and sanity, liked to think that despite the circumstances, he had something to do with it.

Jack nodded and took a Danish. "Yeah. I am majoring in business" He said. He still hadn't decided if he were going to be a business owner or go to work in an office somewhere with an expensive suit and stock in Maalox. He would probably go into business for himself. He was far too hands on to sit back and just push papers around.

"I was pre-Law." Sam said following his younger brother's lead on the pastry. There was always room for sugar. He looked over at Dean. "Dean is in the family business. I know that has some bad memories for you... And I get that but... We don't go after things until people start dying. "

Jack thought about that a moment. He had friends other than Ben who were what most people would consider monsters. Demons. Undead. And most of them left the normals alone. Kept to themselves, and didn't bother anyone. They lived like humans. So long as

that sort of creature were safe from his brothers he could deal with that. Didn't mean he was going to go and hand them a medal anytime soon or join the hunter of the week fan club, but it did make it a little easier to sit at the table with them. "Fair enough." He said with a nod and looked over at Dean. "You look like you want to duck for cover any moment."

Dean rubbed the back of his neck and chuckled. "That obvious, huh?" He said as he finished his coffee. He was still pissed at their father. For knowing about this for so long and not telling anyone until it was time to lay the entire world on Dean's shoulders. Not that he knew what it would have been like had John let them know. Ben seemed hell bent (weird turn of phrase with a demon) on keeping Jack apart from that sort of life. He cleared his throat and stood up, going to the walls where pictures were hanging. Because he felt better if he could move. He looked at a few of them. The requisite school photos with the goofy haircuts and missing teeth. Graduation photos, sports photos, prom photos. "So how does it work? I mean, he hasn't aged in a million years." Dean asked.

"Everyone thinks I'm a plastic surgery addict." Ben said with a laugh.

Sam laughed at that one. "You should work on that perpetual surprised look a little more." He said pouring himself a cup of coffee.

"Yeah it didn't start being an issue until a few years ago." Jack said. "Until then they just thought he aged well but 20 years of the same face goes beyond aging well. " They had moved once in that time and changed the story to half brother from uncle.

"Yeah, give it a few years. We'll be changing the story again. This time he'll be MY uncle." Ben said with a laugh.

"And she knows?" Dean asked carefully, gesturing to Kaylie.

"That they're not really half brothers, or uncle and nephew, and that Ben is actually a strip club owning fire throwing really slow aging demon?" Kaylie said with a smile. "Yeah. I know. It's weird, but I'm all right."

"Strip club?" Dean said with a grin. "Okay Sam, that moves Ben into the realm, the very very small realm, of creatures other than human that I like." Lenore, a vampire, had moved into that realm by not killing Sam. Or humans for that matter.

"Okay... So Lenore had to not kill me... Twice... For you to like her, this guy owns a strip club and that's good?" He teased. "Nice... Real consistent. " He laughed then, shaking his head. "You have a real weakness for strip clubs."

"Is that a family trait?" Jack asked. "I thought it was environmental."

"I think it's a family trait." Dean said with a laugh. "Just means we have more than our allotted share of good old red blood I think."

Kaylie rolled her eyes. "Nice." She said. "But watch this. So, Ben, I saw a sign that you have an opening for an exotic dancer."

Jack gave her a long suffering look. "Baby, we've had this conversation. I'd be in a fight every night if you took that kind of job. It's hard enough with you working in the bar."

He wasn't jealous. Just over protective. Some guy would try and break the no touching rule and Jack would show him what touching was all about. He knew it, just as surely as he knew which way was up, and Jack hated fighting.

Kaylie laughed. She had no intention of working in a strip club. She liked the job she had well enough. It was just fun to give him a hard time. "The tips are good." She said in reference to her job. "Just ask them."

"And here I thought my club had the perks of beautiful women dancing around naked." Ben said. "Good to know it has some other good points. Besides seeing the faces at PTA meetings." The two he had attended in all of Jack's school career.

Dean chuckled as he looked at pictures, and came across one of Jack and Maggie, his blood running cold even as he paled a bit. Sam was right, he had very few real fears, and Maggie was one of them. "I'm going to...ah...go check on the car." He needed air, as he walked out and took a deep breath.

Sam looked after him worriedly and started to follow after but Jack motioned for him to sit back down.

"I'll go."

"I'm not sure that's such a good idea." Sam didn't need to be a genius to sort out why Dean was suddenly heading out in a near panic.

"Sure it is. Kaylie, why don't you entertain my brother here while I go make sure the other one doesn't bolt?" He said with a lopsided smile and started out the door after Dean. "Sucks how some things just refuse to let go, doesn't it?"

Dean didn't expect to be followed. And if anyone was going to follow him, it would probably have been Sam. To try and convince him to go in right now and stop embarrassing him or something. Covering up the undercurrent of concern of course. But it wasn't Sam, it was Jack.

"Yeah. It does." Dean said. "I can't even fly. Which is why I have a kick ass car, so I have a good excuse. But your mom's off limits, remember?" His rule, not Dean's.

"The woman that was my mother... Isn't the same woman that hurt you. " Jack said. "My mom died somewhere in that whole transformation process. She has been dead to me for 14 years. So... If we can keep it to that demon as a separate entity from my mom... We're good." He pointed out. "Can't fly, huh?" He said. "I'm... Claustrophobic... Anything that presses in against me and it's like I can't breathe all over again. Doesn't even have to be threatening and I'm shaking and not sure if I am going to puke or suffocate first."

"So the hunters did a number on you." Dean said, remembering what Bobby had told them. "And the demon who used to once be your mom, well, wasn't pleasant. What a family reunion this is turning out to be." He shook his head. "But you're good? I mean, not good as in good versus evil good, but you know, good? Settled life, college, pretty girlfriend good?"

Jack smiled. "I'm good. I really am. Ben has been a great father to me. I guess in a way he always was. Even without the fiery demon business, you wouldn't think a hard drinking strip club owner would be a good parent, but he really was. What about you? Are you good? Other than the panic attacks at seeing her face, and inability to fly."

"I'm...hanging in." Dean said. "Our family's a mess. Straight out, we're a big mess. You, the son of Dad and your mom, raised by a demon...you're probably going to end up the most well adjusted one. Everything's messed up, it was probably the worst idea to come here, you could get dragged into this, and you don't deserve it."

"I don't get dragged anywhere I dont want to be." Jack said firmly. "I doubt very seriously your world will give me much trouble with Ben around. He seems to have made me his mission in life. As for well adjusted. Kaylie may disagree with that assessment."

"Hey, I meant well adjusted comparatively." Dean said with a chuckle. "I don't know, man. Jessica, Sam's girlfriend. Was killed by a demon. The same one that killed our mom. Who's been killing all these other moms, to go after the children. Had a hand in Dad's death, I'm sure of it. So we're traveling around hunting this thing." Because no one could argue that it wasn't evil. "Along the way we help people when we can, but that's our main goal I think. To destroy the son of a bitch. Been doing this basically all of Sam's life." Dean had a four year reprieve, when he was a child. Up until that fateful night. "Dude, I'm one of America's Most Wanted because of a shape shifter. Sam's been possessed, we run credit card scams and hustle for money. You want to write us off, now's the time."

"So, you always beat around the bush like this, or do you have your direct moments too?" Jack sighed and leaned against the wall. "Ben is good to me, and he is my family, but he isn't my blood. Eventually everyone needs that kind of connection in their lives. So... Right now... Not writing you off. The feds come pounding on my door I will probably kick your ass, but No... Not writing you off."

"Dude, you can stand in the line of people waiting to kick my ass." Dean said with a laugh. "Believe me, it's actually pretty long." Because he was cocky. And blunt. And could usually be counted on to say the wrong thing at any given time. "You're all right. So far. Nearly feel guilty about forgetting about you for fifteen years." He would, if it was his fault. But head trauma, not his fault.

"Nah, don't. You weren't the one who should have remembered me." Jack said. Or come looking after he was 18. Anything. Hell if the man could find the ritual to summon Ben, he could have found a way to make contact. Not that Jack was going to say a word about

that to Dean. Was neither his fault nor his problem. "So, is Sam really that easy going or is he putting on an act with the new guy?"

"He's putting on the act." Dean said. "Though he is the more normally social one of us two." Dean said and ran a hand over his hair. "Sam's going through...some problems. Dad was big into just confessing right before he died. He's ah...not quite like me. Visions, he's psychic boy wonder."

"Fun. That can't be something ahm... Hunters... Think of as normal... And by that I mean the generic run of the mill blowing up houses with little boys in them hunters...not the ones that pick and choose targets. He's keeping that hidden right?" For Jack such things were normal. Psychics, witches, demons, vampires... They all slid in and out of Bens strip club from time to time and they all seemed to be useful to the avuncular demon. To him there was no Supernatural. There was only the common and the hidden.

"Yeah, he's keeping it hidden." Dean said. "Has to, because of the type you just mentioned." Had a run in with one of them already. That was enough for him. "Dad wasn't even like that. How we hunt...we follow media reports, weather signs, even some star signs. Once we pick out a pattern...disappearances, mysterious deaths, then we act. Blowing up houses? That's not us." He felt the overwhelming need to assure Jack that he wasn't a 'bad' hunter.

"If you had been... Ben would have never allowed you to find me. He has a nose for that sort. " And tended to flambé them slowly for good measure. "So this whole psychic thing is getting to him, huh? What is it John confessed that has him all... Never mind... Prying too soon. " He said knowing he wouldn't want to give up all of his secrets this fast. He shouldn't ask them to do so.

Dean's eyes were sad. And haunted. "Yeah, well, I'll tell you eventually. Just not right now." He said. "You kidding? I just told Sam all of what Dad told me. I've known him all his life, I just met you." He said with a chuckle.

"I understand." Jack said. "I have this war I fight on a daily basis. The need to know vs. the need to keep everything to myself. I don't get offended at being told to mind my own business. But not to put too fine a point on this...you look like what ever it is, it's killing you inside. If talking's not your answer... you need to find what is and get to it. " Even at 20 Jack knew that warm and fuzzies weren't the answer to everything or everyone.

"Yeah, so I keep getting told." Dean said with a sigh. "But that's also a family trait, I think, that war of yours. Dad was an expert at it, with a lot less trouble than I'm having." He'd kept the secret about Sam, the secret about Jack, seemingly so effortlessly for years and years. Just another way Dean would never measure up to John Winchester, no matter how hard he tried.

"Sometimes that whole secret keeping thing isn't a good thing. I know I was taught from three on to keep my mouth shut because there are hunters where you least expect them, or because if anyone found out I wasn't actually Ben's nephew or brother, they would take me away to live with strangers. It was survival... makes it hard to live in the normal world... and like it or not... we all have to live in the normal world. It's the only one we have."

"Yeah, we do, don't we?" Dean said with a chuckle. "Okay, meltdown over. Promise. We should save Sam from your girlfriend. For your own sanity. Because she's probably taken the opportunity of you not being in there to tell him all sorts of embarrassing tales."

Jack groaned. "And you know she will be coming up with things I have forgotten all about too." he said as he turned to lead the way back inside.

Sam was pleased. He liked that they were outside talking for so long. It was a good sign. Bonding just a little... it meant that Sam could hope that Dean could fall back upon Jack when he was gone, so that Dean wouldn't be alone. Dean didn't do alone well at all.

Kaylie was busy filling Sam in on Jack's life. Complete with photographic evidence. School dances, sports events, hanging out with friends, along with the embarrassing stories to go with it. They seemed like nice enough guys, even with the hunter thing thrown in. But they were mobile, and she was trying to fill Sam in on everything before he left, because then Jack might never see them again. They'd forgotten him once (of no fault of their own), and she was trying to make sure that didn't happen again.

Ben was offering commentary from the sidelines, keeping an eye outside. He could understand why Dean freaked out, he'd seen what Maggie had done to him when he was sixteen. But he didn't want it taken out on Jack.

But the brothers walked back in. "I'm good." Dean said to Sam's questioning look.

Jack took a seat and looked over at the photo album Kaylie had dug out. "You live to embarrass me, don't you?" He teased. "I swear it's a female thing. She feels the need to make up for all the missing females in my life in that department. Always knew there was a reason I grew up in an all male house hold. Because Ben over there is smart and hates to be embarrassed as much as I do."

"Definitely smarter than you." Ben said. "All possibly embarrassing photos of myself are hidden."

Dean chuckled and looked at one of the pictures Kaylie was currently showing off. "Ooh, nice hair cut." He said.

"That was my fault. He wanted a trim, and I, well, offered. Obviously hairdresser is NOT in the cards for me." Kaylie said with a giggle and tousled Jack's hair. "It grew in fine though."

"Yeah, two days later Ben gave me a buzz cut so that it would come back in even. She is a much better waitress than hair dresser... Although she will decide upon her major eventually and waitress won't be in the cards either." Jack said with pride.

"You know, those two are sickening." Dean said to his brother with a roll of his eyes. Then again, he could see Sam and Jessica like that easily. Back in the day anyway. "I had to cut Sam's hair when we were younger. Obviously he's an ungrateful brat and is in some sort of hair rebellion."

"I look 12 with short hair." Sam protested. "Like some terrible mutant 12 year old. It was bad enough when I was a mutant 12 year old. I don't need to do it again thank you." He said with a laugh.

"It is kinda fluffy there." Jack said. "Could always tame it or something. Maybe with a whip and chair?"

"Oh... Go out side together for 5 minutes and you come back in here and gang up on me. I see how it is. Don't you think it's a little late in life to make me feel like a middle child?"

"Nope." Dean said with a laugh. "I'll definitely take all the help I can get."

"There is two of you. One could always hold him down...?" Kaylie suggested with a grin. "Told you you should have tipped more."

"In your dreams." Sam said. "Besides, I tipped very well last night and it was Dean that made the smart assed blonde comment. Not me."

"Oh really." Jack said raising an eyebrow. Kaylie had told him they hadn't been obnoxious so he wasn't worried about that. But he figured it could get a little mileage. "What comment was that... After all... I'm still an undecided party here... Baby of the family can go either way you know."

"Oh you know, just a blonde comment." Dean said.

"He applauded me for my ability to form complete sentences, then questioned whether or not I could spell." Kaylie said. "So I don't know, I think some torture or something is required."

Dean laughed. "I didn't say you couldn't, just wondered if you could. That's all. I'm completely innocent of any wrong doing whatsoever."

"Since when?" Sam demanded.

The rest of the day went much as the morning had, much to Sam's relief. It was another

good day spent with Dean. Another memory to look back on and smile. He was sorry that he wouldn't get the chance to know Jack better but was glad that he had gotten to meet him just once. The guy didn't need another relative going dark side and ruining his life.

Or ending it.

They ate dinner out with Jack and Kaylie then Jack dropped her off at home and met up with his brothers at Ben's strip club, where Sam allowed himself to become the target for their teasing. Only now at 2:00 am was he making a show of having had more to drink than he actually had and letting Dean help him into the hotel room.

"Dude, you're such a lightweight." Dean said with a laugh as he got Sam into bed. Took off Sam's shoes and threw a blanket over him. In the morning he'd be puking, but right now he was half passed out. Which left Dean time to shower, shower off the cigarette smoke from the club and restaurant that was clinging (half of the reason why Sam might be puking in the morning). He made sure to leave the toilet seat up and put an extra pillow in the bathroom for Sam.

Then he crawled into bed. Today had been a good day, a lot better than expected. Their little brother was...normal. Normal and happy. Cute girlfriend too. Demon guardian who owned a strip club, well that had benefits also.

"Night Sam." He said as he turned off the light, popped a couple of Tylenol to ward off a hangover and fell asleep.

Sam lay there, not moving, almost not breathing. It hurt too much to breathe. This was it. If he got out of this bed and moved toward the door... That was it. No more nights out on the town, no more joking around, no more hunting with his brother. He would be on his own for the rest of his life. But his vision had made it plain what would happen if he stayed. He would turn... And he would kill his own brother slowly and painfully. He had risked too much staying as long as he had. But Dean had been so insistent that he could save him. But the truth was he couldn't. No one could.

Sam quietly got out of the bed and slid his shoes back on. He left his cell phone and lap top on the table, then picked up his carefully packed back pack and slipped out the door. "I'm gonna miss you. " he said feeling his eyes well up. But he set his jaw and blinked them back furiously as he started walking.

Dean woke up and grimaced. All the Tylenol in the world wasn't staving off the headache he had. So he went to the bathroom to get more. Sam was gone, Dean figured Sam was off to get coffee. In which Sam could be nominated for sainthood. So he went back to bed and pulled the blankets over his head.

The minutes ticked by and his mouth was unbearably dry. Cotton mouth sucked. He got back up with a groan and went to the ice bucket. Which was empty. Wonderful. So he put on his boots and a t-shirt, not bothering to tie them and went to the ice machine. Getting back to the room, he saw the Impala was still there. He looked around, there wasn't much in walking distance in the way of coffee.

"Shit!" He said and stormed back into the room. Sam's bag was gone. Sam was gone.

He threw on his clothes and drove over to Jack's house, knocking on the door.

"What?!" Ben demanded as he opened the door. "It's early." He said.

"It's eleven o'clock." Dean said. "I need to talk to Jack."

Jack winced as he stepped into the living room and looked at the door. "Any thing before 3 is early to him... Come in side and close the door before you blind me with the sun light there. " He said as he fought back his nausea. "Coffee is this way... Where's Sam?"

"I don't know." Dean said. "He's gone. Like, took his bag and left. Left me the car, but he left."

"Tone it down." Ben grumbled as he went back to his bedroom and shut the door. He ran a nightclub for a reason. Because he liked the night, wasn't too fond of the day.

"Well, he's a charmer." Dean said as he helped himself to some coffee. "So Sam left. And I know why. Which means now I have to tell you."

"Okay." Jack said and handed Dean a cup of coffee. "Come on upstairs to my room, he won't hear us up there or at least he can't complain as much if he does." He said and started to lead the way up to his room. He tossed the blankets back in a boyish attempt at making the bed enough for company and sat down on it, indicating Dean could have could have the chair at his computer desk. "So what is going on that has Sam so freaked out that he just... Runs off in the middle of the night?"

Dean took a deep breath as he sat down in the chair. "Dad was possessed. Well, twice. But the first time he was possessed, it was to conceive Sammy with Mom. You know, sorta like how your mom came into being." Dean said, staring into his coffee. "Then right before Dad died, he told me. Told me about you, how Sammy came into the world. And that I had to watch out for him. If I couldn't save him...then I'd have to kill him. I'd have to kill my own brother because there was this chance he could turn out like your mom did. And...he won't let me save him."

Jack took a deep breath. "It's because you can't." He said gently then held up his hand to get Dean to let him finish "When Ben told me what had really happened to my mother, I grilled him for hours about it... Did what research I could. It's something Sam has to figure out how to fight. It's not a monster you can slay or a spell you can cast. It's all on Sam. He probably knows that."

"I don't care what he knows." Dean said. "He's my brother. And I promised I'd watch out for him. And he goes and pulls this? All for some misguided reason on not hurting me or something? So, if you're up for it, I figure, since you're on break from college and everything, maybe you're up to a little bonding. You know, when we find Sam we can both beat the shit out of him."

Jack thought about it. This was no small undertaking. But he could tell that Dean wasn't going to be able to do this alone. This was that breaking point that he had seen coming. Ironic that Sam was probably doing this to protect his brother. Hell, Jack would probably do the same in his place. "Okay. I have to tell Ben and Kaylie. Neither of them are going to be happy about this I hope you know. So be prepared."

"I'm not forcing. I'm just asking." Dean said. "So if it's a major problem, you know, I'll just call when it's all over. You know, after I kill him. Because I think this time, I just might." He couldn't expect anything, after all, he was just the brother who had popped up out of nowhere. Couldn't expect anything from that.

"Remember what I said about not being drug anywhere I don't want to go? Remember that. Cause for now I am going." He told him. "I can't guarantee that I will be along for the entire journey, but for now... I'm in. just warning you to expect explosions." He said as he downed the rest of his coffee.

"Angry girlfriend or fire demon. Huh, yeah this could get messy." Dean said. "Can I wait in the car? Or go pack up the hotel. Hey, are you any good with computers? He left his lap top...I can surf the internet and that's about it." His mind was racing as he tried to figure out what Sam was up to. The last time, he'd only found Sam because Sam called him. But the time before that, he tracked Sam down. So far his track record was 50-50.

"Yeah, I'm good with computers... Well... I'm no hacker or genius but I am fairly good with them." He grabbed a duffle bag and tossed a few changes of clothes inside. "Damn this feels like running away from home." He said as he went into his bathroom and tossed in a shaving kit. He handed the bag over to Dean. "So take this, go pack up the hotel, I will deal with Ben and Kaylie, and then we'll sort out where to go from here. "

"I'm definitely hiding in the motel if you have to 'deal' with them." Dean said as he took the bag. "Hey Ben, loved the club!" He said on the way out.

Ben grumbled a bit more and came back out, going for the coffee. "Damn kids." He muttered. "Eleven o'clock's not early!" He said in a sing song mocking voice. "It is if you got in at six. And now I'm talking to myself."

"No... Now you're talking to me... Might want to sit down." Jack prefaced. "I'm going on a road trip." That was a good way to start. Yes indeed. A very good way to start.. Get the explosion out of the way and over with.

Ben sat down and gulped the coffee down. "I'm sorry, run that by me again? I must finally have a hangover or something. Or I'm still sleeping. You didn't say road trip. As in leaving with the brother you just met."

"Yes... As in road trip with Dean... Yes you have a hang over. Sam took off on him last night. He wants company while hunting him down to beat the crap out of him." He said trying to make light of it.

"I don't get hangovers." Ben said as he looked at Jack. "Again, this is where you tell me you're kidding. Thought you weren't joining the Winchester hunter fan club?"

"This isn't a hunter thing. This is finding a guy who isn't thinking clearly and is carrying around a lot of pain before he does something stupid. Have a little faith will ya?"

Ben looked doubtful. "Fine. You're an adult, I can't stop you. I mean, sure I could transport you to some place you wouldn't find your way out of until after Dean Winchester forgets about this idea, but that would be wrong. Right? I'll just sit here and back Kaylie up on whatever she says. That's less evil."

"Right cause guilt trips are supposedly a good guy thing." Jack said rolling his eyes. "I'm not going to be gone that long. I refuse to be gone that long. I have things I need to get done before class starts again. And I am not going to sneak off and become a hunter. Okay?"

"No it's not okay." Ben said. "For Pete's sake, you're taking off with your brother to find the other brother, and neither of you know where he is. And I think I know why he's taken off to begin with. This is really, really not okay with me."

"Because he's like mom and doesn't know how to deal with it." Jack said with a frown. "Nice... Anymore secrets you're keeping from me, since you obviously knew that one too?" He asked staring at the man who was like a father to him. "Cause right now... Starting to feel like I should start questioning everything."

Ben lit a cigarette. Jack was a grown man. This was supposed to be easier once he was a grown man. He'd dealt with the Maggie thing. The puberty thing. The sleeping with Ben's strippers thing. The trying to figure out how to ask a girl out thing. This? This wasn't something he ever expected to deal with.

"Actually I didn't know until right now. I had suspicions, ever since they crossed the wasteland. Because they crossed the barrier, only someone like me, or your mom, or Sam could cross that barrier. You and Dean, no chance. But on the other hand, people like me, your mom and Sam, we didn't have a chance of getting that freaking water for John." Ben sighed. "I had suspicions, didn't know for fact. And how was I supposed to tell you about suspicions I might have had about a brother you didn't know about, and I honestly never counted on you ever meeting in the first place? Look, believe it or not, I did the best I could. I probably messed up a million times along the way, but you didn't come with an instruction manual." Why was he feeling like a bad 'father' right now?

Jack sighed. "You didn't screw up any more than any other parent in the known universe." He said, feeling like a heel for having jumped him about it. "And I know this is disappointing you, but I would be disappointing myself if I let him go off on his own. He came to me for help, Ben... To me."

Ben shook his head. "Fine." He said. "I can't stop you. And you know to call me if you run into deep trouble, I don't care if Dean says he can handle it. You call."

"I'll call. I have no idea what Dean can or can't handle, trust me I'll call. " He said. "So backing me up when I get into deep trouble, does that count with Kaylie too?" He asked as he went to the phone to call her.

"Absolutely not." Ben said, taking a long drag off his cigarette. "You're on your own with her. It probably won't go over well. Can't imagine my wife would have taken it well, no...I know she wouldn't have. Screaming, yelling, broken pottery...silent treatment..." He said with a chuckle, thinking of his Abby, gone before he'd taken Jack, but still always forefront in his mind.

Jack rolled his eyes. "Not feeling the love here." He said as he dialed Kaylie's number. "I could tell her over the phone but I think she would kill me when I come back if I did that. Would save some of your dishes though."

"Then go tell her at her house, she can break her mother's dishes instead." Ben said with a laugh. Both of them lived with their parental figures, because they were both in school. And both insisted on paying for it themselves (though Ben had been more than willing to foot the bill) so that was one less expense right now.

Kaylie checked the caller ID. "Hey." She said. "I was just about to call you, in hopes I'd catch you in a hangover." Because they were rare, and fun to tease him about.

"We need to talk." Jack said. "Wanna meet me at the Starbucks over here?" He was not looking forward to this. Public wouldn't protect him, but it might protect the dishes.

"Uh...sure..." Kaylie said, a bit uneasily. Mind racing on where this conversation would go. Of course, the actual reason for it, she'd never think of. Just all sorts of other reasons. "Give me fifteen and I'll be there."

"Knew you were a smart kid." Ben said with a chuckle as he made another pot of coffee. "I'll have the first aid kit ready."

"I'll probably need it. I just hope she forgives me for this. But hey.." He said as he pulled on a pair of shoes. "It's probably just gonna take a few days. I'm not expecting anything major. I'm sure Dean can find him." He headed out the door, grabbing his keys and wallet on the way.

He was there waiting for her when she arrived, sipping at hot chai and eating a Danish. He ate when he was nervous, and this made him nervous.

Kaylie grabbed a latte before sitting down. Mocha. Because it was kinda chocolate, and this seemed like one of those times when she'd need chocolate. "Okay." She said with a nervous smile. "What's up?" Her best friend once had her boyfriend call her because they needed to 'talk.' It ended up with her crying her eyes out as Kaylie passed tissues to her newly single best friend.

"Okay... Not sure how to say this other than to just say it and hope you don't get mad. Cause Ben thinks you are going to get really mad." He told her and ran his hand through his hair. "Dean showed up at my door this morning worried half to death. Sam has disappeared. Taken off actually. He wants me to go with him to try and track him down. I said yes."

"Okay." Kaylie said as she backtracked her mind. "So you're not breaking up with me for some unknown reason." She said slowly. "Instead you're getting into a really old car with a man you just met yesterday to go look for another man you just met yesterday because he decided to run away...even though at 23, it really can't be considered running away. But because you're NOT breaking up with me, I'm supposed to be, I don't know, happy?"

Jack looked at her in absolute confusion. "Breaking up? Who said anything about breaking up with you? Why the hell would I break up with you when I love you?" He shook his head. "Sam has been going through a lot... He shouldn't be out on his own... That whole depression thing believe it or not. I can't just turn my back on him. "

"It's a girl thing...it would require multiple viewings of Beaches and the Ya-Ya Sisterhood to even start to understand it." Kaylie said. Though she felt like laughing a bit. "Jack, they're your brothers. I get that. But you don't even know them! It would be like some chick coming off the street and telling me to get in her car we have to look for someone. If I even THOUGHT about doing that, you'd be pissed beyond all reason. I get that these are your brothers. I do. It just...it just doesn't make sense."

"I know... I know it sounds insane, but could you ever really look me in the eye if I didn't try and help? I know I couldn't." He told her. "And I told him I wouldn't be able to do this indefinitely. If it gets crazy, Ben can come get me. I'll call and text you all the time."

Kaylie drank her latte. It was still a bit of a chocolate moment. Dean may be his brother, but she was female. She could read him a bit better on a different level. And Dean was Trouble. Probably part of his charm and whatever attraction he held for other women, but he was still Trouble. Not bad evil trouble, but Trouble all the same. The kind that bad evil trouble followed. And now he was going to take the man she loved on a road trip.

But she sighed. "And Starbucks was to make sure I didn't throw things or scream, huh?" She said with a smile. She might have, if she wasn't in public.

"Yeah... " He said, returning her smile. "For the record... If I were ever insane enough to break up with you? So not the way I would go about it. In fact if I ever act like I am going to break up with you...make sure I'm not possessed okay?"

She laughed. "Okay." She said and finished her latte and slipped into his lap, her arms around his shoulders. "But you just tell that brother of yours that if you don't come back in one piece, I'm going to rip his balls out through his throat and make him wear them as pretty little earrings, okay?"

"I will tell him that." Jack said chuckling a little at the imagery. Big bad demon hunter bested by tiny waitress, film at 11. "So... While I am gone, I need you to take care of Sophie for me." He said handing over the keys to his car. It wasn't anything fancy or even original. It was just a car. His only car ever, which wasn't saying much. He'd only had it 4 years. Had named it after a dog he had years ago that decided to take the phrase go play in traffic literally. Ben had thought it was a bad omen naming a car after something that had met its end being hit by a car. Jack thought it was more of a talisman against it. The original Sophie had taken the hits already after all.

She took the car keys. "Okay." She said. "You'll absolutely have to hurry back because you know I'm going to fill it with girl music. And stuffed animals. You know, to keep me company while you're gone." As pathetic as it sounded, they'd really never been apart for more than three days. And even then it was filled with phone calls and text messages.

"Just don't have her painted pink. Or any other girly color." He said. It didn't matter that Sophie was what he referred to as a P.O.S. Car. She had dents and dings, and scratches in her paint, which was some early 90's idea of cool that didn't age well in the salt air of Corpus Christi. "So why don't you drive me over to their hotel, then you and Ben can plot how you are going to make me pay for taking off like this." He laughed. "Don't give me that look, you know you would anyway. I may as well accept my fate."

"Oh lots and lots of kissing up is definitely required." Kaylie said. "Or I could just sit here and keep you pinned." Then she laughed as she got off his lap. He could easily pick her up, even if she was sitting on him. That wasn't much of a threat. "I'm going to worry, you know that."

"I know." He said. "But I will call or text or email every day. If not more often, okay? I'm gonna be fine. We're looking for my brother not some great white whale, okay?" Even if Dean seemed to have a touch of Ahab about him. Something driving him hard, and barely on this side of sane. Sam picked a hell of a time to freak out and vacate.

Jack led the way back out to his car. "Hang out with Ben sometimes. He won't admit it but he's gonna get lonely with me gone. Remember how he was while I was gone for 2 weeks last summer?"

"Yeah he was unbearable." Kaylie said with a laugh. "My mom made him her project, she nearly redecorated his house. I really thought he was going to start shooting flames. But I'll check on him and let you know how he's doing. I'm like the middleman or something, cause I'll be reporting to him on you as well." She was not okay with this, it still didn't make any sense to her, but she couldn't stop him. She'd throw fits at Ben and her friends of course, but she couldn't talk him out of it. She knew him too well when he got his mind on something.

The young couple took their time about their goodbyes in front of the motel. But eventually Jack said a reluctant farewell and went to knock on Dean's door. "So any clue where to begin other than not here?" He asked.

Dean was going through Sam's cell phone. "Laptop's over there." He said. "He made a couple of calls, but I think he's trying to throw me off, since you know, he left it here and all. Or he left it here to make me think he was throwing me off, but really headed over that way. Or he left it here knowing I'd think he was trying to throw me off when in fact he went there, but he didn't knowing I'd think that." Dean sighed. "My head hurts now."

"You're making my head hurt." Jack said. "Okay... Tell me about him." He asked as he sat down at the computer and started to pull up the Internet history "I'm flying blind as far as helping with this." He gave Dean the information on the last three places Sam had looked up. "These two have repeated hits over the last few months."

Dean wrote the places down. "Sam is...he's petitioning for martyrdom. Don't get me wrong, I love the kid. And if you tell him I said that, I'll kill you. But he's got it in his head that everything is his fault. The demon that killed Mom and his girlfriend has plans for him, so he said. So everything is his fault. I've nearly died twice...once I'm pretty sure I WAS dead, and that's his fault too. Obviously I only get hurt protecting his stubborn overly fluffy head, but never mind that he's wrong. He's smart as hell, great hunter. Good fighter. Way too serious most of the time."

"So he has run off most likely to keep you safe from if he actually turns like Mom did." Jack said with a sigh." Has he mentioned any plans for... I don't know... Redemption or something...Some way to protect himself from his other father?" Jack had some experience dealing with Fallen. At least in terms of his 'grandfather' he knew in retrospect how manipulative they could be. Saving Jack time and again from hunters was just a way to keep his mom close until the time that she turned.

It was Dean's turn to sigh as he finished packing. "He thinks if he keeps the scales balanced toward the so called good, he'll avert his so called destiny. The more people he saves, the better chance he can 'change,' I think that's how he put it." Dean said. "So we hit those places you found, see if they've had any fluffy haired puppy boys saving people."

"Okay. Sounds good." Jack said. "The closest is a place in Arkansas. We'll hit there first." He said as he pulled up the directions up on the computer then wrote them down. "Does he know you call him a fluffy haired puppy boy?"

"I also call him bitch." Dean said. "Goes along with it I think." He said with a chuckle. "I don't know, we have our own language, worse than twin speak or EVP really." He went out to the Impala and checked the trunk. Some of Sam's weapons were gone, and Dean was relieved at that. That Sam wasn't out there without anything to defend himself. And that he left enough for Dean to do some work on his own. In case it came to that.

"This thing is seriously old. How do you keep her on the road all the time?" He said putting the lap top into the back seat. "Oh, Kaylie sent you a message. Something about ripping your balls through your throat and making you wear them as earrings if I don't come back in one piece. She was pretty emphatic about it. "

Dean laughed. "Yeah, I can see that." Dean said. "So I'll get you back in one piece. I like my balls where they are. And this is a 1967 Impala, best ever made. Been rebuilt and refurbished, they don't make them like this anymore. Certainly nothing like what you're driving. This is good old American steel, no fiberglass to be found anywhere." He sighed as he got behind the wheel and turned it over, the purr and growl of the engine filling the silence for a moment. "It was Dad's. From before he even met my mother. My childhood was spent in that back seat as we drove from place to place, hunt to hunt. Now my adulthood is spent in the driver's seat. No matter what Sam says, that counts as stability."

Jack shook his head. "I don't remember much of our running." He said honestly. " We moved a lot, usually she would call the demon to take me someplace safe while she took care of the hunters and found us another place to live. Since living with Ben I have only moved once, and that was because someone was asking too many questions. " He didn't know if he would agree with Sam or Dean more in the debate about stability.

"We changed schools more than some people change their underwear." Dean said with a laugh. "It was...unusual. But we made it through. I don't know what it would be like to live in one place for that long. I might go crazy or something. Gotta tell you though, surprised Ben and your girl didn't talk you out of this. Because this looks nuts on paper."

"Oh they tried." He said. "But I wouldn't be able to look at my self in the mirror if I didn't go along for a little while. I'm hoping we find him soon, otherwise the two of them are going to kill me." Jack laughed a little. "I called her and told her we had to talk, and she thought I was breaking up with her. Ben is half convinced I am going to become a hunter."

"I don't know, it is the family business." Dean said with a shrug. "You know, saving people. Hunting things. It's a rush man, really is. But okay, we won't do any hunting. Except for Sam. Besides..." He said leadingly, "you probably don't have any skills anyway. Weaponry, fighting, casting..."

Jack gave him a look. "I have skills. Just no practical application experience. And I like it that way. I know you two do this to help people. I want to believe that, but my mother was a demon, the man who is for all intents and purposes my father, is a demon. My best friend growing up was half demon. I can't look at it as black and white as you do. I am sure it's quite a rush. Not one that I need in my life."

"Yeah, well, my best friend is Sam." Dean said solemnly as he drove toward Arkansas. "So I really appreciate you helping me out here. It's the weirdest thing, and hard to explain, but I don't know. It kills me when he does this, I don't care what his rationale is."

"I'm sure its not any easier on him. At least you know he cares. So how do you track things down?"

Sam hurt.

It wasn't a physical pain, not really. He wished it was. It would probably hurt less. He had thought it would be like going to college or fleeing in search of the other psychics. It wasn't. This was almost like when their father had died. It was final. There was no turning back, because if he did, if he went back or let Dean find him, then his vision would become a reality.

He would kill his own brother.

So Sam had slipped out of the hotel room in the dead of night, had taken a bus over to the high priced night club district and there he had stolen a car. A very expensive car. This wasn't transportation to the next town, this was the very high price for his new identity. He had disabled the GPS easily enough and bypassed the security system in short order. All skills they had learned for other purposes, but they served him well here. Not that he liked it at all. Not one little bit.

He had driven through the night and the next morning to Baton Rouge . He had spent months setting up this deal. Earning the man's trust, and in turn the man earning his own. It was almost noon when he pulled into the back alley and up into the garage doors.

The man stepped forward, and walked around the car as Sam got out, taking his bag with him. "This will do nicely." He said with a nod, this will do nicely indeed. He turned to look at Sam. "Anything in that bag you don't need. It can be traced; set it down over there."

"There are a few things."

"Nothing." The man repeated and stood there staring at Sam. "You are paying to start your life over, and paying handsomely. But if you aren't going to do what I say you may as well dig up a bikini inspector ID and expect it to work for you."

Sam couldn't help but smile at that one. It had worked actually. But that was a different time, a different life. "Weapons. I have weapons I want to keep."

The man scowled at him. "Fine we'll go through it once we are done with everything else." He had done this legitimately for years until he became disgruntled with the program he was working for. He could remake a man in a matter of hours. This particular man was going to take some work. He was tall, with easily recognizable features. He carried himself like a boy still.

"Go with Henry, and he will find something more suitable in the back closets. Choose three changes of clothing, and it had better be nothing like you have on now. Sam doesn't exist any more. He dies here in this warehouse."

Sam shuddered at that but he was right. Sam followed Henry to the back of the warehouse and started going through the clothing there, Things that fit his long, lean yet broad shouldered form weren't common but he found his requisite three changes of clothing. No flannel, no army tee shirts, no layers, no baggy jeans. Henry shoved him into an almost tailored look that seemed close in and uncomfortable at first. He had to stand differently, for it to be a comfortable fit. He selected a longish coat, to make up for the lack of layers. Some place to hide the weapons he always carried.

They trimmed and darkened his hair, It wasn't short and he didn't look twelve, it was merely tamed. They gave him fake glasses. No prescription, just something else to shift his features.

The man looked him over once more when he stepped out and nodded. "Wear jewelry, something that looks sentimental. Ring, pendant. Pick it out at a pawn shop so it looks worn, grow facial hair." He told him. "Your name is Sean, Sean Michael Talbot. Your birthday is today, 24 years ago, originally from Austin , Texas ." He told him as he handed him a worn looking Social Security Card, two credit cards, Voter's registration card for Baton Rouge, and an Albertson's savings card. "Those cards have $500 limits. Your credit is moderately good, but not perfect. Now let's get you in front of the camera. Need one for the driver's license, and one for the passport."

The process was done an hour later, and he walked out of the warehouse quite literally a new man. He carried a different bag filled with his gear and changes of clothing. His first stop was a used car lot, where he picked up an inexpensive truck. There was no AC and the stereo was mono, no tape or CD. But he could work on it and with minimal modification he could turn the tool case into a weapons locker.

He set his bag in the weapons locker, and locked it up, then got into the driver's seat and sighed heavily, leaning his head back against the head rest and closed his eyes. "You can do this," he frowned, "Sean." He said the new name aloud as though that would give it weight and meaning. "It's just another con, you can do it." He started the truck, and turned on the radio, finding an oldies station, for a bit of the familiar in his strange new life, and hit the freeway.

He didn't go far, another hour down the road when he took an exit for a one horse town that he had never heard of before. He was hungry. Dinner the night before had been a long time ago. It seemed a life time ago.

He pulled onto main street and found the one and only diner in town. He entered the restaurant and settled into a booth.

A red head at the end of a long shift gave him a tired smile as she handed him the worn, one page laminated menu. "Meat loaf's the special." She said. "It's not bad, but I'd go with the barbequed chicken if I were you." She said. She recognized the long traveled, road weary look. Usually the only reason people stopped here, was that they were hungry, before they kept on passing through.

Sam smiled at her a little sadly. "Chicken it is. Don't suppose there is a motel close by. I'm not picky." He said, figuring this was the least likely place Dean would come for a day or two at least. Give him time to get his bearings, maybe fix up the truck a little. Time to try and become Sean Talbot. Who ever the hell he was.

"There's a motel attached to the diner." She said as she wrote his order down on her pad. "It's not much, but the rooms are clean and it's quiet." She laughed a bit. "Everything around here is quiet, come to think of it." She wrote down coffee, he looked like he could use some. Actually he looked like he could use some whiskey, but he also looked like he was still driving.

"Yeah? How much for a room? I've been on the road too long today." He said. He didn't think he would ever be picky about the hotel rooms he stayed in. He doubted this one would have a kitchenette being attached to the diner but for no longer than he planned to stay here that would be fine. Too long in one place would make him too easy to find.

Oh yeah, this one was running from something. But most everyone here in town was. One thing or another. A life they hated, disappointments...ex lovers who turned out quite opposite of what you thought...She wondered idly what he was running from. Not that it mattered. Just idle wonder.

"Forty for a night." She said, about the room. "Doug should be back soon, he can set you up." The owner and manager of the diner and the motel.

"Great, sounds good." He said with a tired nod. Sleep. He needed sleep. He had been up more than 24 hours straight. Maybe with a little sleep he could sort out where he was going. What he was going to do with his life. Was he going to still be a hunter, or was he going to disappear into small town America and hope he could keep away from any and all that knew him.

She gave him a smile and went to put in his order with the cook, bringing over coffee. When Doug, a heavy set middle aged man with a red face and a halo of graying hair came in, she sent him over to Sam. Doug eased his body heavily into the chair with a soft grunt.

"You want a room I hear?" He asked, his brisk tone honeyed over with the dialect of the area.

Sam looked up from his coffee. "Yes, sir." He said with his usual politeness. Some things wouldn't be changed no matter what new persona he built around himself. "Been on the road too long. Just wanna be somewhere not moving for a few days." He smiled then. It was true. They had been traveling for the better part of two years with out much hope of stopping ever. A few days in a town small enough that even the supernatural avoided it would be just what the doctor ordered.

"I know how that can be." Doug said with a nod. "Well, they're nothing fancy, but at least they don't move. Cash only." It was a small town, and friendly enough, but he wasn't about to be scammed by an out of towner. He'd been scammed once before, and that was enough for Doug. He didn't believe in repeating his mistakes. "My wife comes by every morning at eleven to change over the beds, for an extra charge you can have your laundry done too. There's a microwave and a fridge in there, cable. No loud parties, no disturbances. A lot of folks use them as efficiency apartments, and they gotta get up for work the next day." The extra charge being five bucks, but the motel wasn't the money maker for him. Neither was the diner. He was a carpenter by trade actually, but he just pulled several roles in the town, like many other people.

"Sounds great. I'll take it for a week. Oh... I have some work I need to do on my truck... Is it okay if I do that here or do I need to find another place to do the work?" He knew some places frowned on that. Had watched his father argue with enough hotel managers to know. He would have to go get tools but he needed them anyway.

There would be no parties. Unless Sam sitting in front of the TV with a bottle of tequila and bag of limes counted as a party. He wasn't stupid. He knew the first little while was going to be rough. That was why he needed to stay put until it passed. So that he didn't make stupid mistakes.

"Nah, that's fine. Just no big pounding in the middle of the night." Doug said. "We got a junk yard across town, that might help depending on the work you're doing." Most people stopped in town with the fear that their vehicle wouldn't make it to the next town. That wasn't unusual. It was a small enough town that it was under the radar of just about everything, but close enough to the interstate that they got a fair amount of people passing through. At least during tourist season, which was ending. Doug dug into his pockets and pulled out a large ring of keys, he didn't have pass cards or anything. Good old fashioned keys. "Let's see..." He said, going through them. "You can have room four."

Sam nodded and did the math in his head for a weeks stay at the motel plus laundry service every few days, and pulled out 300 from his stash of actual cash. "I don't know what tax is here. " He said sheepishly and took the key when offered to him. An old junk yard near by would help a lot. The engine was running fine but he wanted to get underneath and work on the suspension and breaks. With the right work done under there even that old truck could be made to do tight maneuvers when needed. That and the weapons locker he needed to create. "I'm Sean by the way." He said trying on the new name. "Sean Talbot."

"Well, it's sure nice to meet you, Sean." Doug said, shaking his hand. The money covered the week and the laundry. "I don't do tax, I guess it's included. Just too messy if you start dealing with cents and percentages. So this is good. So you can get your breakfast here, it's included. We have a general store right down the street."

Jack shifted uncomfortably in the passengers seat. "You really spend all of your time in this car... like this? Are you permanently numb in the ass cheeks? Cause my god I can't feel mine anymore. "

Dean chuckled. "My ass is fine." He said as he switched tapes over. "I've spent more time on the road than you, you know, since Dad didn't have that whole teleportation thing going on. From the time I was four. This car right here, nothing like it." But at least it had been an hour since Jack had last called his girlfriend.

"Well I gotta agree... There is nothing like it." And his backside and lower back thought it was an amazing torture device, but he was smart enough to keep those thoughts to himself. His oldest brother tended to obsess on the car. "So any idea what Sam was talking about in his notes here?" He asked and started reading out loud the notations.

Dean listened. "Sounds like he was investigating a case." Dean said. "I don't know, maybe he was giving himself something to do, a purpose or some such. We did the same thing when we were looking for Dad."

"I guess that's promising for us being on the right track. I understand leaving the cell phone but why the lap top? You would think he would want his research with him... And can we pull over at the next rest stop? I'm getting a cramp in my leg."

Dean gave him a look and pulled over. There really weren't rest stops on the paths he traveled, just wide shoulders where he could pull over. "I don't know. He snuck off in the middle of the night, maybe he only grabbed what he could easily grab." He suggested. Though the lap top thing was bothering him too. "We'll see how far we get then get a motel somewhere. Guess I should at some point see if you can drive this beast. She's picky you know."

"Sure." He said with a nod as he got out and walked off the cramp in his leg. He fished out the bottle of anti-inflammatories from his pocket and took two. He had been healed as a child, but the body was a funny thing. A bone could knit, and be for all intents whole, tendons and ligaments could heal, but pain didn't seem to care. He was lucky. He knew that. That he had lived through the blast and the fall, that he had survived long enough for his mother to sacrifice her soul to keep him alive a little while longer, that the spell had worked. So many times in that process that he could have died. One misstep along the way could have left him crippled, or stunted. His lungs or heart could have been compromised for the rest of his life. Instead he was healthy and could do what ever he wanted to do. So long as he could tolerate the bad days. The days when the pain seemed to radiate though his body in that dull burning ache, punctuated with sharp twinges. He was grateful that Ben was fixated with warm climates. His senior trip to Aspen had been an experience in pain tolerance. Old age was going to seriously suck. "Picky huh... Friend of mine has a car that he says is picky but all that's wrong with it is that he has handled it rough for so long that it's got ... Steering issues. "

"No, she's picky." Dean said with a laugh. "Some days she wouldn't even start for Sam. He swears she's possessed." He sat on the hood with his M&Ms. He knew stiffness, and pain, and watched his youngest brother walk for a minute. Sure, whatever deal Dad cut with the demon brought Dean back to the realm of the living. And the doctors couldn't find anything wrong with him, but some days it just hurt to get out of bed. "Pop the trunk. Black bag on the right hand side, all sorts of anti inflammatories, antibiotics and pain killers." They lived a rough life, and hospitals weren't always an option.

"Thanks" Jack said. Sitting still was hard for him, and he had been doing it for hours. He got into the trunk and found the black bag. He took a couple of flexeril for the stiffness, figuring the ibuprophen he had just taken would work for the swelling. "Well... Maybe she knew he was gonna run and didn't want it to be with her. " Possessed car... So long as it was friendly... No skin off of Jack's nose, although he figured Dean to be the sort to freak at that concept.

"Yeah I can see that." Dean said with a chuckle. "He's not the best driver in the world anyway. But we're a walking pharmacy and armory. You name it, we got it or can get it." He sobered for a moment. "A few days before Dad died, that demon that we've been hunting...sent one of his lackeys at us. Plowed a semi right into the passenger side of the car. I was already in bad shape, the attack didn't help. Spent a few days in a coma, doctor said I was basically a vegetable. When I woke up, and then when Dad...you know..." he cleared his throat. Meaning when their father had died. "We, ah, we cleaned out their pharmacy on that floor." And smuggled their father's body out. "So we've got enough for a while. Even some heart stuff in there somewhere." From his other near death experience. Oxycodone, nitroglycerin.

"Ben's idea of pain medication is vodka. Fortunately he knew doctors that were in the know about... You know... So he didn't really have to explain the scars with no medical file to back them up. Some of them are literally witch doctors so I spent a lot of time gagging down herbal teas when I was little. " He shook his head. "Well," he said figuring now was the time to make light of the conversation. It was getting too heavy and in uncomfortable ways. Demons vs. Hunter ways. "Well... You may have been broken into many pieces more often than I have... But I did it first." He said with a grin.

"Dude, I was on life support. I completely top you." Dean said with a laugh. "You might have been near death, but damn had there been a black out or a fried circuit, I'd be haunting my car right now. Worst part, the nurses weren't even cute!"

"I survived a bomb and a long fall into a basement at 3 years old. And had to be held together by demonic life support. So trumps a car crash at 26. And if Dad had been a little more willing to kill her back then or if you two were better at escaping I would be serious dead."

"Okay, you can't hold the failed escape attempt against us. We were a lot younger then." Dean said. Leave it to people with Winchester DNA to make a joke out of life threatening and nearly life ending situations. "Believe me, we've gotten better at it." He tossed the keys at Jack. "Come on, since I'm still fully awake and all, let's see if you can handle the Impala."

"Hold it against you?" He asked laughing. "Nah... Kinda glad you two sucked at it. Wouldn't be here otherwise. " He said catching the keys. Jack got into the car. "Okay." He said as he adjusted the seat. "Let's try and get along here." He told the car. "So that we can find Sam and get Dean to stop freaking out." Dean tried to not think about it, Jack could tell, he was trying. But he could also see his eyes, and that undid every bit of covering up he could do. He was worried about Sam, yeah, but he was also somewhat lost with out Sam. And that was something Jack didn't understand having grown up fairly normal and as an only child.

Dean started laughing. "I'm telling Sammy when we find him that you talked to the car." Dean teased. "He thinks only I talk to the car." Of course, Sammy also accused him of tucking the car in at night and reading it articles from a car magazine as a bed time story.

"No wonder the car doesn't like him... He ignores her." Jack said and started the car, pulling it out onto the highway. "Anything that is well loved and cared for has a ... I don't know... Essence about it. Don't know if I would call it a true consciousness or not... Not arrogant enough to claim to know... But they definitely have personalities, and they know if they are being dissed."

"Thank you!" Dean said with a chuckle. "Finally someone who agrees I'm not nuts, right baby?" Though the 'baby' he was referring to was NOT Jack. He pulled out the directions again. "Okay another hour, then we'll get a motel and see what we can dig up on Sam."

Jack nodded. "Okay. Any reason you are taking the back roads everywhere? We could have been there like 3 hours ago on the freeway" He asked as he got settled comfortably behind the wheel. He wasn't sure he could handle much more of Dean's music but at the moment he wasn't going to complain. Dean was too on edge and Jack didn't know him well enough to push buttons yet.

"Remember when I told you I was one of America's Most Wanted?" Dean said with a chuckle. "Well, I wasn't kidding. We did a job in St Louis, evil shape shifter. And he wore me for a little while to go commit some torture and murder. Nice guy, really. So once they figured out I wasn't dead, well...and there was this bank robbery thing...another shape shifter. Man, I have no luck with shape shifters. So, major popular road, more chance of getting pulled over, carted off to jail, extradited, possibly executed...definitely puts a crimp in the plans. So, yeah. Back roads."

"You two are about a mess, you know that?" He said with a laugh. He could handle driving. It was a cool car, he had to give him that much, and he totally got being into something that intently, but he had a feeling Sam was right... The car was replacing a steady girlfriend in Dean's life. He had seen that sort of thing before. With cars, dogs... surf boards. Fortunately Jack had a girlfriend. A home. And eventually gainful employment. It might have been an accident of fate that he wasn't living their life with them, riding along in an old Impala running from the law and a very powerful demon. But it was an accident he was grateful for. His brothers would never see old age. If they had children they would probably never see them, or even know they existed. It was a lonely life. Good cause or not, it wasn't one that Jack was cut out for.

"Yeah, we are." Dean agreed with a chuckle. There really wasn't any arguing with that. They were a complete mess, but they worked. Against all odds, for some reason they worked. At least when Sam wasn't pulling stupid stunts like this. "And we're always entertaining in one way or another. Strange, though, aint it? That you're the one raised by a demon who owns a strip club and has a girlfriend with violent tendencies...at least toward me...and you're the normal one?"

"That should tell you something." Jack said with a grin. Mostly that life was unpredictable. But at the moment the fact that Ben had managed to raise him to have a normal life was a point of pride for Jack. Not that Dean would understand. He could perhaps comprehend the level of hatred Jack felt for every other hunter on the planet except for his brothers. But he couldn't understand it. That hatred had deepened when he had learned the truth about his mother. Ben had never said that it was Jack's fault that she had made the decision she had in order to save him. And he wasn't Sam... It wasn't natural to place blame on himself for things he didn't actually do. Yes he knew that his mother had free agency and had made the choice on her own, but he knew that the only alternative was to watch him slowly die, gasping for breath like a fish out of water. No parent would make that choice. No... His mother's descent and eventual demise lay at the feet of the hunters that had blown up their home. The ones that had kept coming after them time and again, driving them into a world made of shadows.

Dean chuckled. "Yeah, I guess it should." He said as his fingers drummed on the dashboard. "Okay, take a left up here, we'll get a place and see what we can find out. Unfortunately, you have to fill the cute puppy boy role. Kinda like good cop, bad cop. But I aint a cute fluffy puppy, and I'm the oldest. So I've decided."

"I look like Bruce Lee and John Wayne had a love child and you want me to be the fluffy puppy boy? How about you play the pouty pretty boy role and I play the bad cop role?" He said with a laugh. He followed Dean's directions and pulled into an amazingly cheap motel. "I think there might be one with bigger roaches down the block... Could be cheaper but they might charge by the ounce on the critters you carry out with you though."

"Believe me, I've stayed in worse." Dean said with a laugh. "And how about we call that girlfriend of yours and ask her who she thinks makes the cuter one?" He teased. "Brush your hair down, you'll look sixteen. You get fluffy puppy boy. Besides, older people see me, and they think trouble, lock up the daughters and the booze."

"Gee, wonder where they come up with such an instinct with you." He said with a laugh. "Look... Not sure why we need a fluffy puppy, unless you are looking for stand in Sam... Which I'm not."

"I know you're not a stand in for Sam." Dean said patiently. "Though, kinda, you are, since this is a two man operation. Anyway, someone other than me has always filled the role of the one they want to take home to dinner and fatten up before tucking into bed. Except, you know, when I was with Dad, and then that was my role, but truthfully, it never worked out very well."

"You make it sound like we're grifting." He said as he got out and grabbed his bag. "We're just looking for our brother who had a day's head start on the road trip." He said. "Can't imagine it would take that much subterfuge."

"To flush Sam out? Oh yeah." Dean said. "Believe me, us, the way we were raised, if we wanted to disappear and never be found, we could. The only disadvantage that Sammy has is I know everything he knows. That's it."

"Then maybe we want to go at things differently." Jack suggested as he motioned for Dean to go about getting them a room. "If you know everything he knows... Then he is going to know how to counter that better than anyone. "

Dean went and got a room and came back with the key. "So we go around saying "come out, come out wherever you are?"" He asked. "He's gone to ground, I know it." The more he thought about this, the more complicated it got. Meant Sam had been planning this for a long time, which pissed him off. And hurt him. That in a way he'd run off his own brother.

"I didn't say that." Jack said as Dean led the way to the room. "Just obviously he is trying to avoid being found by you. So the things you normally do aren't going to work. I am sure there has to be some other way that he isn't going to defend against. "

Dean looked around the room. Yup, the normal room he and Sam would get stuck in. Looking like it was decorated by an out of work, half mad set director from 70s pornography. But at least it was clean. "Okay, so he hit this town a couple of times on his computer. Could be a set up to throw me off track, maybe not. Anything about this town spike some interest?"

Jack settled down with the computer. "He made a lot of notes about local disappearances. Could this be a hunt he was working on instead of a destination?" He didn't want to go on a hunt. Had promised Ben that he wouldn't. Nothing would disappoint Ben more than for Jack to become a hunter. It would be a betrayal after all the man had done for him.

Dean stopped and went to look at the computer. "No. No, no, no. Fuck you, Sam." Dean said as he started to pace. "Dad did this, when he disappeared on me. Ended up sending us on a treasure hunt of jobs and cases, each one we thought we'd catch up to him. Only one of them had he even been near. And Sam...Sammy was more pissed off about it than I was. And he pulls this?"

"Because he knew it would work. Cause it would give you something to do instead of looking for him." Jack said with a sigh. "Come on. Lets go get a few beers and a steak, and see if we cant figure out what else he could be up to right now. You know him better than anyone... We'll find him."

Dean gave him a sharp nod as he grabbed the keys off the table. "Sounds good." He said. But he still couldn't believe that Sam would pull this. Actually, he could believe it.

Jack brought along the lap top even though he doubted it would be useful for finding involving Sam. He suspected his genius brother had made sure of that before he pulled his disappearing act "I know this isn't going to be a popular question, so bare with me and don't deck me for it, but is it possible that he was slipping... You know... Into the darkness "

Dean stopped and glared at him. Hard. The patented Winchester glare. "I should punch you for that. No it's not possible." Dean snapped and ran a hand over his face. "Okay, from what I've gathered, the...slip into darkness...comes from having to make some sort of choice. With your mom, it was to save your life. Sam hasn't had to make any choices like that. Last time I was in a coma, Dad settled that problem all on his own. Sam's a good guy. It's going to take a BIG thing for him to take that step. He's not all dark side. And he's not going all dark side as long as I'm alive, got it?"

"First... Don't even threaten in passing to hit me. You don't know me well enough to do that. Second I didn't say he was a bad guy. And so far as we know he didn't make any choices. Obviously he has been keeping quite a lot from you. Maybe there have been temptations you don't know about."

"It's not possible." Dean said firmly. "End of story. He's not dark, he's just misguided and definitely overdue for a time out. Now are we going to go eat and work on other theories or not?"

"Well I guess I know why Sam left now." Jack said with a frown as he looked down. "Not that I am saying he has actually gone all dark and shadowy, cause I'm not but if you shut him down on this as much as you just have me, he probably thinks you'll be his first victim when he goes cause you won't see it coming until it's too late." He got into the passenger's side and closed the door.

Dean stared after Jack for a moment. Damn, was he right? But he shook his head and got into the driver's seat to find somewhere to eat. "I promised Dad I'd save him." Dean said. "Because I can't kill him. No matter what, he'll always be Sammy and I can't kill him. It would be like killing myself and no one should have asked that of me." He said quietly. "So maybe I'd miss signs because I'm so bent on saving him."

"You're right. No one should have asked that of you. It's eating you alive. Even I can see that and I don't know you. " Jack pointed out. "So maybe you might want to cut Sam a little slack when we find him. I get the feeling he's doing this cause he loves you. He practically worshipped you when we were kids." Jack was starting to remember bits and pieces of the time they had all spent in the shadows. "I doubt that has changed."

"I don't know." Dean said. Worshipped? Maybe when they were kids, in that normal little brother way. He couldn't see it now. Or Sam wouldn't be fighting him so hard on this issue. Wouldn't be taking off like this, making Dean chase after him. Because if he honestly thought Dean wouldn't chase after him, then deep down he knew Dean less than Jack did. "I'll try to cut him a little slack. I'll only hit him once, how's that?"

"It's a start." Jack said with a laugh. "So anyway, where is the last place on earth you would look for Sam Winchester?"

"That's the problem. He's better at blending than me. Kid can go anywhere. He's done the nomadic hunter thing with me and Dad, and he did the college thing at Stanford." Dean said with a sigh. "I ever tell you he graduated from Stanford? He was preparing for law school when Dad went missing, and then his girlfriend was killed."

"Stanford huh, not too shabby." Jack said. He hadn't even thought about Ivy League schools. Just never occurred to him. But Jack was a man of simple dreams and ambitions. Stanford was for a man who wanted more, and wanted it bad enough to work for it. "So he is smart, determined, and he isn't one to just settle for what he can get easily.""Yeah, that's Sam. So, I don't know, maybe we should check Wall Street first." Dean said with a laugh. It was going to take a bit to figure it out, find a place to start looking. "So what's Sam got in that file anyway?" Because that's who he was. "You can stay back, don't worry. Not asking you to do that." Knowing his feelings on that subject. "I'm just interested."

Jack gave him the ground work that Sam had laid out for Dean. "Missing children. Says it's between the ages of 6 and 10. Kids go out to play and just never come back inside. Doesn't seem to matter what social class or how diligent the parents appear to be.. the kids just up and vanish.""Huh." Dean said as they pulled into a diner, and got a table. He took a couple of napkins and a pen and started making charts and graphs of the disappearances. Getting a copy of the local newspaper and writing more things down. They didn't hunt blindly if they could help it. That was one thing their father had beat into their heads. Preparation. Preparation. And preparation. He looked at what he had done and nodded. Starting to find a pattern already. "Yeah, so we'll ask around, see if anyone's seen Sam, but I doubt it. I don't even know what he's driving these days. Were it up to him, probably some little foreign job, which makes me think he's driving an old truck instead."

Jack nodded. "Makes sense. How far would he go to reinvent himself?" He asked. He remembered the ever changing last names when he had been little. He had 5 in one year once because they just kept coming. His mother had worked very hard to cover their tracks each and every time. Never staying put in one place was easy, but making your way through life was another matter entirely."Hair style, clothing, maybe grow a goatee or something." Dean said. "Might affect an accent, I'm telling you, the guys in the witness protection program couldn't do any better than what we know. And that's with saying that he didn't get outside help. Which I hope he did, because we can track that." Somehow. It was at least a string of hope he could grab onto. All the while making his notations. Because Dean could multi task with the best of them. "He'd stick to small towns, until he gets his bearings. There's just, you know, a million of those. And then maybe go lose himself in the big city. He wouldn't go anywhere where he might be recognized as Sam, so Palo Alto is out." Then Dean made a list of places he knew Sam wouldn't go. "So a fifty mile radius around all these places. Narrows it down a bit more."

Jack took the list and looked it over, along side his menu. "Where's our FBI profiler when we need one?" He asked, not even sure where to begin looking on the list Dean made up for him. "Do you think it will take him long to get his bearings?" He set down the menu. "For all of that... How many connections do you guys have for that kind of outside help?"

"A bunch." Dean said. "I have a glove compartment full of fake IDs. But he wouldn't use any of our connections. So we're back to square one on that one. I'll ask around, see who people would recommend if they were going rogue. But what he wants more than anything is to be normal. That's where you come in. Because you're normal. Got the normal life, the normal girlfriend, the normal education, and compared to us, the normal household. So what does a normal guy do?"

"A normal guy... gets a job, gets a place to live, makes friends." He said. "That's going to take money. People don't hire a guy with no address, not at a real job. Sam strikes me as the type that is going to want a real job, not an under the table job. That's also going to take a social security card, a driver's license, at his age either a college record or an employment history... who ever hooks him up with this new ID is going to have to be top of the line. Homeland Security is making it hard to pull of an identity switch out there."

"Okay, so we're going to need the top of the line identity man." Dean said. "Which means Sam's been saving up for this for a while, because they don't come cheap." He said as he paused. The waitress took their orders and brought over some coffee. "I'll put in some calls, see who I can dig up." He jotted that down on the 'Sam' sheet and smiled politely at the waitress when she came back over with more sugar. He gestured at the front page news, which was the missing kids. "Seems like city life keeps getting closer and closer, doesn't it?" He said.

The waitress sighed. "Yeah. People used to leave their doors unlocked." She said with a shake of her head. "Now no one even goes to the playground. Those poor kids...and those poor parents. One of them is my neighbor, never seen such attentive parents. Then the kid goes up and disappears. People are saying it's them woods, but that's just superstition. Almost think there's a predator on the loose. You read about it all the time, those sickos that kidnap kids for their own deviant needs, or sell them to Thailand or something..."

"Yeah, I know what you mean." Dean said. "Enough to keep you up at night."

Jack watched Dean work the waitress for information. He was casual about it, as though he really were just another traveler. It was a little creepy. Impressive, but creepy none the less. How could he tell what was and wasn't the real Dean? He wondered if his brother even knew.

Dean chatted with the waitress a bit, letting the story develop that they were on their way to meet their middle brother up at college and stopped off for an oil change and some gas. A bit close to the truth, and completely innocuous also. Then the waitress brought over their food and left them to tend to other customers.

"What?" Dean said as he peppered his food and poured on the ketchup. "You're looking at me like you either want to bolt out the door and straight back to Texas or ask for my autograph."

"Does it always come that easy?" He asked. "Sliding into a persona, charming everyone around you?" He could see where it would be necessary. A necessary survival skill, and if his mother hadn't lost herself to the darkness he would probably be as good at it as Dean was.

He was certain that once he got to know the man, it wouldn't be so strange to him, but they were strangers with the same genetics at this point. It was disconcerting not to know who he was talking to. Other than an over protective big brother.

"Depends." Dean said with a shrug. "If I'm at a bar, and I'm just looking to get laid, and I'm talking to a girl who really doesn't give two shits what I'm saying as long as I put out...absolutely no guilt." He said as he cut his steak. "Little old ladies, they get me. Usually I let Sam talk to them. He doesn't even really need to pull a con, just bat his ridiculously long girlie eyelashes and ask for a cookie. That waitress, not really. By the end of her shift, she'll have forgotten all about me."

"Do you ever really connect with anyone?" He thought that would be about the loneliest life around, to be surrounded by people and none of them knew you. Pretending to be something you're not. No wonder he didn't want to lose Sam. Sam was probably the one who came closest to knowing Dean, and even then, Jack wouldn't lay odds on it being as well as either brother thought it was.

"You know, I did once." Dean said, thinking of Cassie, her face flashing before his eyes before he banished it. "Course then I had the bright idea to come clean about everything, and then, well, she left me." He said with a chuckle and a roll of his eyes. "Women. So other than that, it's just been Sam, and Dad. Course now Dad's gone. Guess that's why I'm looking for Sam. Because logic says I shouldn't. He's an adult. He can go off by himself. Just...if he does, what's left of me, you know? So Kaylie knows everything, then?"

"Maybe you should figure out what's left of you while we hunt him down. " Jack suggested. "And yeah... Kaylie knows everything. We've been together since ... Well... I've never been out with another girl, let's put it that way. I couldn't get serious about her without telling her the truth."

"Well, glad to know there are some people who can take it well." Dean said. Truthfully, he wasn't sure he wanted to figure out what was left of him. The answer might scare him. He had far too much invested in his family for it to be any other way. Maybe he truly was pathetic, in that he just couldn't be alone, even if he were just in the room with a family member. Was that the price for his lifestyle? The never ending con, the constant moving, the fluid identity? Yup, he was so much better off just not knowing. "Besides, it's Dad's fault that Sam and I...shit what was the word someone used once...symbiotic. He was a strange, broken, fearless man.""

"I remember when you two were missing... Out in the darkness... He just stood there at the window staring out at the gateway. For three days he stood there waiting. Staring. Barely speaking. " Jack had felt so insignificant in the face of that. He had tried so hard to stay at his side and wait for them as well, because that was what his father was doing and he had wanted that man's ... Acknowledgement... More than anything at that time. His mythical, absentee father had been in his presence and he had been nothing to him. Something he couldn't even look at.

"I still don't remember anything from then." Dean said. "I don't know, maybe I need another knock on the head. Which is coming, because I tend to get knocked around a lot." He said with a chuckle. Sure, Jack had been raised by a demon, and spent his early life in and out of a shadow dimension, but Dean didn't think that Jack was ready to hear the whole truth about John, and what he'd done to ensure that Sammy stayed safe. And in the light. Because he knew Jack's opinion of their father wasn't very high, and Dean wasn't ready to hear that. Bad enough he always had to hear it from Sam.

Jack chuckled. "A hypnotist might be easier on your head and more likely to work. Of course they may not like what they find out." He didn't hate his father. His mother had never taught him to hate the man. But there was a good deal of resentment and pain from the one meeting they had the chance for. And some he supposed for not saying anything sooner about him to his brothers.

Dean laughed. "Yeah I can see that session now. Sure, I remember my brother now, course I also remember crossing a demon wasteland to get a bottle of enchanted water...you'd come break me out of the loony bin, right? Because I'd definitely be locked up for thinking my childhood was some deranged version of a Grimm's fairytale..." He said as he drifted off then wrote down two words on his napkin. Hansel and Gretel. "Damn, that was obvious."

Jack gave a quizzical frown. "What's obvious? That your child hood was deranged? " He asked with a laugh. "Hate to tell ya pal, but you and I... We've had it lucky compared to some people I know."

"Nah, my childhood was actually pretty cool." Dean said. "Oh some parts sucked, but I had some fun. No, this thing I'm working on that you don't want to know about." Meaning the case. Because, Dammit, he couldn't just go to the next town. Not when some messed up spirit was taking children. He didn't care how distasteful Jack found the idea, he could wait in the hotel room.

"I know you're disappointed that I don't want to go into the family business with you." Jack said. "But you can talk to me about it... Just in case I have to go out there and scrape up the remains or something."

"Okay." Dean said. "Hansel and Gretel. Most people think its a parable to tell kids not to go off on their own, especially into dark woods. And most of all, never go into a strange person's house, especially if its made of gingerbread. But Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, they knew more than they were letting on. They just dressed it up for public consumption." He turned the napkins over so Jack could look at them. "Hansel and Gretel. So far we've got eight children missing over a period of seventeen months. Four boys, four girls. Each pair was taken within a week of each other, then things calm down. Parents let their kids go out to play. But the spirit is hungry. So it starts again. It's probably not eating them as we think of it, but it's eating them. Even spirits have a preoccupation with the occult properties of human flesh. So that's what I've got so far. It's been three days since the last boy was taken, six months since the last girl was taken. I've got a window of opportunity here."

"okay... " He nodded. He could accept this. Something that preyed upon children didn't deserve to be left in peace." So how are you gonna go about all of this?" He had no clue how hunting was done. Normally he wouldn't want to know. But this was something his brother was going to do, something that could be dangerous and he was he only one around to know what happened.

"I've got the locations of all the kids when they went missing." Dean said, sketching them on another napkin. "This is the last kid, all around those woods. So I'm going into the woods, seeing if the son of a bitch is hungry. Doubt it'll come after me right out, you know, me being male and all grown up, but it's going to deal with me one way or another." He finished his food and drank his coffee. "So twilight is the magic hour." He looked at his watch. "Which means I've got forty minutes to get you tucked into bed. You're not expecting a story or anything, are you?" He teased. Because Jack was the youngest.

Jack laughed. "Nah, I'll go back and see if Kaylie is on line. Leave my cell free incase you need me." He said as he finished his meal.

"Dude..." Dean said with a laugh as he settled the bill. "You've talked to her more than you've talked to me today, and I've been sitting right next to you. But if you're going to talk to her, tell her you're still in one piece. No daredevil stunts, no forced orgies...I've been a very good boy."

Jack laughed "I will let her know that your balls are still off limits" he said.

Sam had spent the day shopping instead of sleeping. He had needed tools, to work on the truck, another computer and more than three changes of clothing. Especially since none of what he had picked up along with his new identity was something he wanted to crawl under a truck in. He would be making minimum payments for a long time on the new credit cards but that was in some strange way reassuring.

It was normal. He wasn't part of the hunt anymore, so he couldn't very well justify burning the fake cards anymore. It wouldn't be part of fighting the good fight then... It

would be fraud. Strange how his mind still made those distinctions. He locked up the tools in the trucks took box and took everything else into the hotel room with him.

Including a bottle of Tequila and a bag of limes.

He locked the door behind him and lay down the salt lines. He put the pistol under his pillow, almost reluctantly making sure that the safety was on, and scattered the other weapons about the room before heading into the bathroom to take a shower. He wished it were as easy to wash away the last vestiges of Sam Winchester as it was to wash away the road dirt. He worried about his brother. He missed him too. Missed the sound of his brother yelling at him to leave him some hot water, missed his ragging on him about porn and his taste in music. But he knew that he had made the right choice. If he had stayed he would have wound up killing his brother. The visions had been clear on that point. Even if every step he took to prevent it had only changed the ways and means of it all... He had still been the one to take Dean's life, because Dean hadn't been able to save him and he had refused to kill him.

He dressed in a new pair of sweat pants and a floppy tee shirt, figuring he could at least be comfortable at night, even if he had to suffer with discomfort through the day. He started flipping through the channels until he found an old movie that was worth watching, telling himself that at least he could watch what he wanted now. He poured the first of many tequila shots, and opened up the shiny new laptop. This at least was going to be fun. Ash wasn't the only one that could make a computer do back flips. He just ... Wasn't as speedy about it, and certainly wasn't up to taking on the government, and somehow he thought Ash was.

He had to create a web presence for Sean Talbot. He also had to back it up with an education which was easier to forge than a work history. Sam didn't want to spend what was left of his human existence running. He didn't want to spend it on his back under a car or in the back of a small town greasy spoon. That meant he had to have been a professional student all this time.

He opted for IT. It was basic in most companies. Didn't require an MIT diploma. So Sam arranged for it to be from some community college near a naval base. He knew what it was like to have a marine father, so he kept that part of his new persona. Besides, being a military brat made it easier to believe he had never been in one school for long, and why no teacher really ever remembered a Sean Talbot.

He set up an email account, Chat programs, started to hang out on a few of the boards. Stretching Sean's legs in a safe environment.

Missy, the waitress from the diner, had a room across the small dusty courtyard from Sam. The courtyard was littered with weather worn, but still feasible, lawn furniture surrounding a make shift fire pit and a grill. Sam right now, or Sean as she knew him, was the only one using the motel as an actual motel. The rest of them used them as efficiency apartments. Doug provided a fair rate, and Missy had it taken out of her

paycheck, for room and board.

She'd been here one month. And in that one month she'd thought she'd finally shaken off the bad vibes that were attached to her past. The ones that followed her, and chased her. She wasn't old, but she was no longer young. Auburn hair was cut in a shoulder length bob, and she no longer wore make up. Highlights had been washed from her hair, and she no longer walked with the stature of someone proud, or even someone glad to be alive. Right now, as tears poured down her face, she wished she wasn't. It seemed the only way to make it all go away. Was to just let him in.

The man pounding on the door, arms spotted with tattoos. Characteristic blue ink marking him as the felon he was. A beefy hand attached to an even beefier arm was pounding on the door. "Stacey! Open this door, baby! Don't make me break it down! I just wanna talk!"

Stacey, she thought she'd left that behind too. New name, sorta. Once upon a time her parents had named her Anastasia Melissa, quite a mouthful for a girl. She'd gone through Ana, Anne, Stasia, Lisa, Lisse, Stacey, now Missy. Still trying to escape. She thought she'd escaped him as a frightened scream broke free from her throat as he rattled the door. She leaned against it, as if to hold it up, a steak knife clutched in her hands, hands too small and inexperienced to know what to do with the steak knife, but it provided a weak sense of security.

Sam had been ignoring what had sounded like a typical domestic dispute for a few minutes now. He had learned as a kid not to let himself worry about things going on between other people. Normally they didn't want your help. But the scream was something different. He could never ignore the sound of someone screaming. That took it from dispute to someone being in danger, and that brought him to his feet, and out the door.

"Dude, it's late, go home." He said trying to approach it calmly at first. It couldn't hurt to try and defuse the situation before getting physical. He had paid for a week after all and he didn't want to be evicted when he hadn't even gotten the chance to sleep in the bed yet. So he tried to defuse the situation, even though the looks of the man before him screamed that it was just not going to be possible. In fact he would be lucky if he wasn't trying out that brand new insurance card he had in his wallet. Or in jail.

Oh well.

The man looked at him, looked him up and down and dismissed him. "Aint it past your bed time?" He sneered before pounding on the door. "Stacey! The neighbors are complaining! I think you better let me in now! I forgive you baby! The time away let me think for a while, and now let me in and we'll talk about it."

"I'm calling the police!" She shouted through the door, which just increased his pounding.

"You do that and you'll be a dead bitch before they even come! Now I'm trying to be nice here!" He shouted.

"Call 'em anyway." Sam said as he landed a punch at the back of the man's head, sending the front of his head into the door. It was a sucker punch, but Sam had never been taught to fight fair. There was no such thing as a fair fight with monsters, human or supernatural. There were fights that you won, and fights that they carried you out of.

He grabbed the man by the collar and pulled him out into the court yard, figuring this was far from over but he wanted the fight away from the woman's door. He was depressed, half drunk, and a Winchester . Which meant this fight was going to be better than a week's worth of therapy toward what was ailing the 24 year old.

The man grunted as he was pulled away from the door, his forehead had a nice split in it that was dripping blood into his eyes. That's what he blamed the stumble on. The blood in his eyes made him stumble through the courtyard until he got his bearings and took out a butterfly knife. "Gonna give you one chance, boy." The man said, wiping his eyes with his sleeve. "Go back to your room, this is a conversation for grown ups, doesn't concern you at all."

Sam almost laughed then. He stepped in closer to the man, grabbing and twisting the hand with the knife as he landed another punch to the man's face with his free hand. "You should have gone home while you had the chance. "

"Oh! My nose!" The man cried, holding his bleeding nose with his free hand as he tried to get his other hand free. The one with the knife that he was not afraid to use. "You son of a bitch! I'm going to kill you."

Sam took the knife out of his hand and closed it before he thumped the mans head with it. "Take a number." He said as he stepped in closer. "I have laid bigger things than you to rest where they never find the bodies. You come anywhere near that woman again, and you'll just be another statistic."

The man looked like he was going to take a swing, but he limped off, holding his nose. Next was heard the gunning of an ill maintained engine and squealing tires.

"I've moved thirteen times in the last eight years." Missy said from behind him, standing at her door, arms folded across herself as she wiped her face. "Twelve times guaranteed I'd find the worst guy out there and take him home. Was hoping thirteen would be lucky for once and they wouldn't follow me."

"You like your life here?" He asked her, as he tucked the knife away. One more weapon he wouldn't have to buy. "If you do... Then don't run anymore. " He smiled a little. "And don't settle next time. You can do better than that."

"Thank you." She said. "I hope you stop running someday." Because like always recognized like.

"It's not people I'm running from." He said. He wasn't running for his own sake. "Get some rest, Missy. I'll see you at breakfast." Sam told her as he started to walk across the court yard.

Somehow, Missy had the feeling she'd be sleeping a little easier tonight. For one night at least, she could sleep, since her latest problem was probably licking his wounds in a bar or someplace. Or maybe left town, lest anyone find out he got his ass kicked so easily. "Good night, Sean."

Sam went back to his room and closed the door. He tossed the knife on the table before going to clean up and sliding in between the sheets and closing his eyes to sleep.

Jack had called Ben briefly once Dean had left, figuring he had a few minutes of available time before his assistance might be needed. He was frustrated with Sam. He figured he knew why the man had done it but it was hard to see how tore up Dean was over it. No matter how much Dean tried to cover it.

It felt good, it really did. A complete release of energy. He sent the boy he'd found alive off running toward home, and distracted the spirit. A little too well, as it turned out, but the little boy was safe from harm. Dean, on the other hand, he was never safe from harm. Hard to be when he kept putting himself on the frontlines. Hell, in front of the front lines in fact. Right in the heat of it. He got thrown around, had to pull a branch out of his side...but he didn't feel much until the adrenaline wore off.

Right about the time he stumbled back to the hotel room. Actually he didn't start stumbling until he got to the hotel room. And he planned to blame it on ill laid carpet actually.

"Hey." He said to Jack, shrugging his jacket off carefully. Any bruises or obvious injuries he might have had were covered with wet leaves, mud and bits of bark that clung to him. "How's the family?"

"Family is good... With the exception of the man I am looking at. You look like you brought the forest home with you, and you smell like blood. Where are you bleeding?" He asked calmly as he went to get the first aid kit.

"Ah, leg, side, face, inside of my cheek." Dean said with a chuckle as he kicked off his shoes. "It was a rough and tumble one, gotta love those. Won't know the real damage until I shower." He said, carefully removing his shirt to leave in a pile by the door with the rest of his mud caked clothing.

"Shower is probably a good idea." Jack said, shaking his head. "But that's it, no more going out to hunt it down?" He asked, grateful he hadn't gone along. It had been bad enough telling Ben that Dean had decided to follow through on the hunt that Sam had laid out for him. The fact that the thing was killing children made it a little easier but there had still been talk of enabling, and that if they weren't going to focus on Sam, he should come home. He understood Ben's point of view, having been probably hurt worse by hunters than he himself had, but Jack's thing was children. You didn't mess with children. This time the creature had deserved it. But that didn't mean that he liked it.

"All done. Kid's home, probably thinking it was all a bad dream. Creature of the woods is gone...all's right with the world for at least a few hours." Dean said as he made his way to the shower. Oh this was not going to be fun. This was a tequila and percocet moment. Nothing life threatening, but definitely comfort threatening. But he showered as quickly and fully as he could and appraised his wounds in the mirror. "Dammit." He said. One of them needed stitches, and he couldn't reach it. "Hey, you ever put in stitches before?" He asked, digging out the suture kit.

"Ah, no...stitches usually mean a doctor, man. Let's get you in the car and I'll drive over there." He said, looking at Dean like he had sprouted a second head. "What happened that you need stitches.. never mind, I don't want to know."

"Got thrown into a tree." Dean said with a careful shrug. "And no hospitals, I don't have the best experience with them. Besides, remember? America 's Most Wanted? I think I'm number seven or something. Come on, dude, I can't reach it myself and it's easy." He said, handing Jack the suture kit.

"You do realize I don't even sew my own clothing." Jack said as he took the suture kit. "This is going to look like a 6 year old did it." He told him as he opened the kit and looked at it. "I can't believe I am doing this. So there is no way to clear your name at all?"

"Sure. Just convince the authorities that it wasn't me, that it was a shape shifter who looked like me that killed those people. Course, I killed the shape shifter, so once they accept that shape shifters exist, they'll probably charge me with murder for that too." Dean said with a shake of his head. He took the kit and threaded it up and then found a bottle of tequila and started drinking. "Okay, it's easy, just gotta connect the two flaps of skin. If I scream, you went too deep with the needle, got it?"

"Anyone ever tell you you're a masochist?" Jack asked as he started to work cautiously stitching up his brother's side. He didn't shake while going about it but he might as well have given the uneven stitching, although to his credit Dean only had to protest once out of 5 stitches. In fact, Jack was worse for wear than Dean when all was said and done. "I knew there was a reason I didn't go to med school."

Dean chuckled and handed him the bottle. "You look like you could use this." He said. He'd long ago stopped being affected by putting in stitches. He'd first stitched up his father under Pastor Jim's watchful eye when he was nine. Kinda lost its 'eww' effect after that. "Okay, so Sam probably sent us off in the opposite direction of where he went, the bitch, so we've gotta rethink our path." Especially since he only had a few more days of guaranteed help.

Jack took the bottle in hand. "You know, if we don't find him before I have to come back to school, you can come back with me, we can research through the week and head out on the weekends. I only have one early class on Fridays." He said, not figuring they were going to stand a snowball's chance in hell of finding Sam that quickly.

"Yeah it does look pretty hopeless right now, doesn't it?" Dean said with a chuckle as he pulled a shirt on. Bruises faded, so did scars. Pain came and went. This was just another night in the life of Dean Winchester, even if Jack didn't completely know that.

He couldn't, obviously, or he wouldn't have even suggested...with a straight face no less...that the idea of a demon who hated hunters, and a hunter who didn't especially have a love for demons, in the same town knowing of each other would be a good idea.

Besides, he'd seen the toll that this life could have on Sam. He took off, didn't he? There might be one little brother at least that could have a normal life.

If all Sam wanted was a normal life, that was fine. He could have at least let Dean know where he was, or even if he was okay.

"If we don't find him, then I'll have to keep looking on my own, is all."

"What happens if you get hurt out there on your own?" He asked in turn, feeling very angry with Sam in that moment. Jack had always wanted to know his brothers.. to have them actually be brothers not some one out there that shared genetics, and Sam seemed to think it was something disposable. He knew that there was more to it than that but he had just had to stitch his brother up. Jack wasn't used to this. This wasn't normal even for Jack who did not live as normally as Dean seemed to think. He did live with a demon after all. "You gonna run around with open wounds on your back?"

"All bleeding stops. Eventually." Dean deadpanned then grinned. "Dude, it was a joke. I'll be fine. It's not like I've never done this on my own before. But the offer is appreciated, it really is. I'd probably swing by for a beer and a lap dance anyway." He did want to get to know this new brother, just Sam had mucked up the issue with his disappearing.

"Okay, seriously not funny. You better swing by, and you better keep in touch." He told him. "I mean, I don't have to hear from you as often as I do Kaylie but in case you hadn't noticed, I ahm," he laughed, "have separation anxiety, at least that's what I call it. I have an almost pathological need to keep in touch with people I care about."

"Aw come on, it was a little funny. And you couldn't possibly hear from anymore as much or more than you hear from your girlfriend unless they were in your head." Dean said with a chuckle. "I get the separation anxiety. I did drag you off on a search for the jack ass brother after all."

"Guess that happens when people die or leave all around you. Ben's been a constant but it's not the same as, well, you know." He didn't know how to explain it without coming across as one of those whiners that figured their parents were responsible for every little emotional hiccup they had in their lives. That was the last thing he wanted to turn into.

Dean took the bottle and took another swig and looked at his brother seriously. This younger brother who a week ago was a complete stranger. They wouldn't have recognized each other even if they were walking side by side down some random street. "So everyone leaves you too, huh?"

"Yeah." He said with a sigh. "Except for Kaylie, and I am surprised I haven't run her off by constantly checking up. It's not that I think she is going to find someone else or anything, I just can't imagine what she sees in me. Ben, well, love the man to death, but the fact of the matter is he promised my mother he would take care of me when she couldn't, so he is stuck with me until I have no idea when that promise is done, been kind of expecting him to take off any time since I graduated high school. And that isn't to say that he doesn't care about me because he does, it's just...once it's done, it's done, ya know."

"No idea what she sees in you either. She is way out of your league." Dean said with a chuckle. And luckily way too young for Dean. He was reminded painfully just how close he was to thirty when he shifted onto the bed and tried to find a comfortable spot. "Well, you're kinda stuck with me. I'm kinda like a rabid pit bull when it comes to family."

"Good, 'cause you know I will be calling all the time once I go home. Although I promise it won't be more than three, four times a day tops." He teased. Dean had given him such a hard time about his phone time with Kaylie. Although to be honest it was a good thing they had one of those plans where they could talk to each other for free, otherwise his phone bill would rival his tuition.

"You're just as much a girl as Sam." Dean said, shaking his head. "Phone time, making fun of my car, that whole girlfriend thing..." He chuckled. "But good for you. Besides, she's gotta be in withdrawal from you, won't have time to call me once she gets her hands on you."

"Hey I wasn't making fun of the car, I was making fun of you. It's not the cars fault you have a crush on her. Jeez, you're gonna give her ideas and then you'll be doing all the driving . But I am telling you, man, girls are much better, trust me."

Dean laughed. "Yeah, okay. I forgot, you being the wiser brother and all." Dean said. He had no problem with girls. He liked girls. A lot. And they liked him for the most part, in the short term. "Hey, cut me some slack, the car has been my one constant in life."

"You have a car, and I have a demon, well two out of the three of us have something. Could be worse I suppose, given our parents it could have turned out a lot worse for all of us." Jack said. They could have all wound up in foster care, or living on the streets literally, or taken by something far worse than his mother ever could have dreamed of being. Given the world they came from, the Winchester boys led a charmed life.

"I guess the only thing I can hope for is that somewhere in this whole mess of things, Sam might be a step closer to having something." Dean said with a sigh as he popped a painkiller. If the medical community only knew how many painkillers Dean could take and still function at his personal level, they'd be shocked. And possibly try to put him in rehab.

Jack wasn't too keen on Sam at the moment. He didn't know him, but the more he learned about Dean the more he wondered if Sam hadn't been just a little too spoiled over the years by an older brother trying to make up for the lack of parents in the boy's life. Sam seemed to take a lot for granted. Like the fact that his brother could survive this life without him. The fact that Dean was talking about it just being that Sam wanted a normal life, that was just pissing him off.

"Who knows?" Jack said as he shut down the computer. "Let's get some sleep. I foresee a long day on the road tomorrow."

The man looked across the desk at Sean Talbot. And then glanced back down at the piece of paper in his hand. A simple resume, a scanty one at that. Listing schools for the most part. But he was used to that. He often got new graduates, and preferred them. No bad habits from other employers to break.

His hair was a little shaggy, but the man knew that was style for kids these days, even if he wanted to take clippers to each and every one of them, much like the first day of boot camp for Viet Nam. Other than that he was clean cut and very presentable.

"All right." He said with a nod. "You can start training today. We'll give you a small subsidy for moving expenses," normal par for the course, enough to set the new grads up with a crappy apartment and some food, "and we'll go from there."

"Thank you, Sir." Sam said as he rose to his feet and extended his hand. He didn't make any promises about not letting him down, he couldn't. For all he knew he would be on the run again before he got his first paycheck. But he had to try. It wasn't as though he could really run from himself, or the demon. It hadn't worked before. All he could do was stay away from his brother so that his vision never came to pass. He got the information on who to report to and how to get there and made his way there. Fortunately it had been long enough that he was answering to Sean now as quickly as he would Sam. He was comfortable in his new identity even if lonely.

It had been a long time since he had held a regular job. Even then it had only been part time while in school. So his first day had been hectic, even if not very taxing. He spent his lunch hour going through the classifieds looking for an apartment, and making calls to view them.

The landlady showed him a studio fifth floor walk up, in not that great a section in town. But it was cheap, and it was clean. And relatively close to his job. "Security deposit, first and last month's rent." She said. It wasn't the right part of town to deal with background checks, but she liked to keep her bases covered, at least monetarily.

"Of course." He said as he fished out his wallet and gave her the money. "I appreciate you letting me move right in. Getting tired of diner food and motels." he said with a smile. He made sure that he could park his truck out back. It was easy to get to the alley from the fire escape. Sam liked a quick escape. He chatted with her a little while longer, breaking out what Dean would call his puppy dog eyes.

The puppy dog eyes worked, as they usually did. The landlady was completely won over, and even made a note to herself to bring this nice young man a casserole later. It was so nice to see young people who remembered their manners, not to mention were ambitious enough to try and make a life for themselves outside of mommy and daddy.

"Well, if you have any problems, you just ring me up and let me know." She said with a smile, leaving him alone to try and settle in, not noticing the shadows that were falling along the hall.

"I will, thank you." He said as he closed the door and then quickly went about making the place secure. Or at least as secure as it could be made. Salt along points of entry, brick dust right behind it. Then came the weapons. Ones that wouldn't leave the apartment until he moved out. He had only taken a few from Dean, when he had left. He hadn't wanted to cripple his brother's supply. As such, he had made purchases along the way. The weapons locker concealed in his truck bed was full, and he had enough in his bag to scatter about the studio sufficiently. He had learned to hide them well over the years, while keeping them in easy access.

Then he called in an order for pizza, and settled down with his lap top. He had been checking things out on line, following his brother's progress on the clues he had given him. Making sure there were no John Does fitting Dean's description along the way, keeping watch on the most wanted list, making sure his brother was still on it. All those things that told him Dean was still alive and free, doing what he lived to do. Doing what he did better than anyone Sam had ever met save for their father.

The pizza delivery guy came to deliver the pizza, and when Sam handed him the money, he looked at Sam. Seriously, darkly. "You can't escape." He said, with eyes suddenly gone black. Not THE demon, but one fairly close. "And you can't protect anyone. Silly boy."

Sam's dark eyes narrowed as he looked at the possessed delivery boy. "You are so not getting a tip." He said with a sigh, glancing up and down the hall way, before speaking softly in latin, just loudly enough for the demon to hear.

The man clutched at himself as he struck out at Sam. "You fool...you should have killed Dean when you had the chance...you've had lots of chances...the heart problem, the asylum, the life support, while he was sleeping...he is your Achilles' heel because we know what you would give for him."

Sam stepped backwards. "Then you should be happy I didn't." He hissed through clenched teeth. "And I never will. " He resumed the latin then, fishing the holy water out of his jacket pocket, setting the pizza aside.

The man fell to his knees, screaming an unearthly howl. And released a black cloud of smoke before he collapsed. He looked at Sam in confusion.

"Oh man..." He said, holding his side. "How'd I get here?'

"Dude, don't party so hard next time." Sam said. "You need a drink of water or something?" He asked looking the man over, making sure he wasn't going to die of some old injury. that was the last thing he needed his first night in the new apartment. Demon visitation he could deal with, dead pizza delivery guys, not so much.

"Nah, I'm good." The man said, recovering and shaking out his head. "Wow, I musta partied like something else, I don't even remember waking up this morning." Never mind going to work! "So, yeah, enjoy your pizza or something."

"Thanks, man. Drive safe... " Well his good deed was done for the day. Although he didn't like the though that the damned demon was lying in wait for him to order frigging pizza. But he had been right about one thing, he couldn't run from them. Couldn't hide.. so why bother? As long as Dean was safe and far from him, it was all going to be fine.

In it's own miserable sort of way.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N and WARNING**

_**This chapter is disturbing in nature, and there is graphic imagery involved. There is massive Dean Whumpage, torture and near death. This is not a chapter for the faint of heart or weak of stomach. For those that continue to read, rest assured this is not the end, and our boys have not come to the end of their journey. Please let us know what you think. We love feedback. **_

"I'm good." Dean said with a laugh as he tossed his bag into another anonymous chair in another non descript hotel room. Jack and him had the habit of calling each other every night. Because that's what happened when you took two guys with separation anxiety and abandonment complexes and told them they were long lost brothers. "I'm outside Chicago now." Following a trail he wasn't even sure was right. But Finding Sammy was still his top priority, even if he did dispatch of evil along the way.

"Chicago. Damn, you have got to hit a few blues clubs while you are there. I mean it. It's your brotherly duty to do that for me. " Jack said, as he chopped the vegetables for the meal he was making that night. "Baby can you hand me the mushrooms?" He asked Kaylie. "Thanks." He then turned his attention back to Dean. "So what wild goose are you chasing tonight?"

"Tonight? No wild goose chase. Hunting of a different sort." Dean said with a chuckle. Meaning he was hitting the bars. "Not that you'd remember, being all tied down and everything. Someone's gotta live it up though, right? Then it's a very special date between me and a poltergeist." Jack didn't seem to have much of a problem with Dean dispatching spirits.

"Like I said man... blues... go for the blues clubs. Guarantee you will find some amazing women in those clubs. Unless you have to hustle a little pool or something...then you might want a different location." He said as he started to saute the mushrooms and onions. "You know if you need me... I'll get there."

"Dude, put your girlfriend on the phone so I can ask her if you can fly to Chicago and play my wingman." Dean said with a laugh as he stashed the weapons around the room and laid down the lines. "She still hasn't forgiven me for the black eye." Jack had gotten a shiner when he'd walked into a wall, forgetting the lay out of a new motel room after being strung out on the road. Dean had done that himself a few times.

"She got over it." He said with a laugh. "Said it was kinda sexy after she got through making sure I was... in one piece." He said and winked at Kaylie. "And I wasn't talking about playing wingman you know." It had been a few weeks since he had come back to Corpus Christi. He still worried about Dean being out there on his own.

"Dude, TMI." Dean said, shaking his head. "Nah, this is an easy one. Put the spirit to rest and then on to the next job. Whatever it may be." He was following his brother's false trail. Because it gave him something to do while he looked for Sam. Because a bored and idle Dean, or a frustrated Dean, was never even approaching a Good Dean. Sam seemed to know that, but Dean wasn't suprised.

Jack nodded, even though his brother couldn't see it. "So when do you think you'll be headed back this way? I can definately get us into the best strip club in town. Have an in with the owner after all." He said. And anything they did together that stayed in Corpus Christi and didn't involve hunting of any sort made Ben ... less cranky.

"Actually hoping to swing by next week." Dean said. "Taking a break now and then, try to keep my sanity a bit." It helped, it really did, that Jack was so 'normal' and well adjusted.

"Sounds good. I would say no hotel but well... I don't know that Ben is that used to you yet. He will be soon enough I suppose. Or I will eventually graduate, get a job, get married and have a guest room with your name on it."

"Dude, I wouldn't stay there anyway. How you can live there I have no idea. He keeps the heat cranked up to 80!" Dean said with a laugh. "So does this mean I should start planning a bachelor party or are we speaking in hypotheticals with the hypothetical girl in the room."

"A little of both actually. Working on getting things put together at the moment." Like his courage, or at least the ring. Both would be good. "But listen man, I should let you go, I need to finish making dinner here and you have to be my vicarious eyes through the blues culture tonight. Call me when this job is done. Let me know you're in one piece."

"Absolutely." Dean said. It was a nice ritual, even if at times it was annoying. "So I'll let you go, tell Kaylie I said hi."

"I will." Jack said. "Take care, talk to you tomorrow."

"Will do." Dean said, hanging up the phone. He supposed he could have been an ass and refused to get to know Jack at all, to spite Sam. But...he knew himself enough to know that he needed that person to keep himself level. To stop him from doing things stupider than what he did normally. Even if it had the opposite effect than Sam wanted. Because having Jack in his life didnot stop him from chasing after Sam. It drove him harder to reunite his family.

Sam left the bank with a smile on his face. It was good to have an account again, even better to have something stashed into savings. Working with computers paid well enough for his modest expenses and then a little more. He was good at keeping his costs down, it was a way of life. It was a way of survival. His biggest expenses were his gym membership, and his truck. The truck ate most of what he alloted as spending money, and occasionally dipped into his savings. Thankfully he could do most of the work himself otherwise he would be flat broke before the paychecks ever got there.

He kept to himself mostly as the days turned into weeks, and the weeks into almost 2 months now. He was friendly and polite, but didnt go out of his way to get to know people, which won him points with his boss, and made everyone else very much curious about the big guy with the sad eyes. He researched nephilim and wasnt sure what to think of what he found. They were different than most mythical creatures he had ever looked into . Usually there were other references, but this was a purely judeo-christian belief that was harder to find information on than a needle in a haystack. All that he could be certain of was that they were the children of men, possessed of Demons or Angels... and that according to some they were the real reason god flooded the earth, saving only the purest human bloodline.

Caroline, who worked three cubicles over in Accounts, stopped by his cubicle in time to see him minimize whatever it was he was looking at. She wasn't the internet police (and had done a fair amount of online shopping herself at work), so she just passed that over.

"Hey." She said. "It's Greg's birthday, and everyone brought in something." She said, laying down a ladened styrofoam plate on his desk. Because of course, again, like always, Sean kept himself apart from everything. Caroline chalked it up to being the new guy, she'd been the new girl once. In fact, only last year! "So thought you could use something to eat, even if it's not particularly healthy."

"Thanks." Sam said and smiled for her. "Wow, I guess everyone brought something. I think I won't need to go get dinner tonight." It was mostly sweets but that was fine with Sam. He still had a sweet tooth. Caroline was nice. She always seemed to go out of her way to make him feel welcome, even if she didn't push about it. Which he appreciated both. "So how are you doing?"

"Yeah, well, Bertie goes wild whenever anyone asks her to cook." Caroline said with smile. "It goes. They keep up plenty busy for sure. But you've gotta eat more than that for dinner." She said with a grin. "They've got us pulling late nights, how about we order something in?" It was kinda a date, as much as she dared at any point.

"Sounds good." Sam said with a boyish grin. It was harmless enough, right? Ordering in food while working late. Wasn't like he was asking her out or taking her someplace where they would be seen... and she could become a target. He enjoyed her company. "What sort of food do you like?" He had gotten to know the restaurants in Salt Lake City pretty well over the last two months, including the greek fast food place, Rasputins which was a russian place, and 3 different indian restaurants that he liked to frequent although his favorite was Bombay House. Unfortunately those didn't deliver, "I know there is a chinese place that delivers, there is pizza and I think I can even get mexican if I talk to the lady real sweet and promise to give her son a large tip "

She laughed. "You are the take out king or something, aren't you?" She teased. "But if you can sweet talk the senora, I'm all for Mexican. It's been a while since I've had any decent mexican, so I'm trusting you when I vouch for the quality." Usually she cooked for one. Soup. Sandwiches, the like.

"Most days it's microwave tv dinners. Days off it's take out, and pay days it's either Rasputin's or Bombay House... I am one of those people who should never be allowed in the kitchen if it involves using the actual stove." Sam admitted. Fortunately years of food on the road had given him a taste for cheap food so long as there was good beer to go with it.

"That's too bad." She said with a laugh. "Okay, so when the cleaning crews come in, and we're still stuck here," since both of them pulled late nights, "come find me. With Mexican."

"Will do". Sam said and smiled for her. "I will see you then." His job was easy. He was there to make sure things ran smoothly with the computer, and to deal with the autodialer. Mostly it meant sitting on his butt, reading, until it was time to do something. Which was why the new guy got to do it. He liked being able to sleep in anyway, otherwise he would be on morning shift which would have him in the office at 5:30 preparing for the rest of the staff to show up. His father had been a morning person... just another of the many ways they were different. Another wedge when Sam had been younger. Things that Sam now wrote off to the fact that his father knew that he was a monster waiting to happen. Not even really his son. Physically yes, John had been there but... it was different, and at least now Sam understood why.

He went about his work, pushing the past from his mind again. Telling himself Sam Winchester no longer existed. he was Sean Talbot. He worked on computers, and occasionally indulged in going out to dance clubs and worked on his truck. That was his life. That was all there was going to be. He wanted it that way. He placed the call to the mexican restaurant, and sweet talked the owner who thought he was too thin and didnt take care of himself. He ordered two dinners, and a couple of soda's and then told security to expect the delivery. Within the hour he was over at Caroline's cubical. "Food's here."

She put her spreadsheet in a folder with a wide smile. "You are a miracle worker!" She said with a laugh as she cleared off her desk to make room for the food. "Ooh, it smells good too." She pulled boxes off her spare chair and offered him a seat. "Come on, a girl never likes to eat alone. Not like I'm taking you home to meet my mother!"

He smiled and took a seat, opening his box of food. "I am sure your mother would send me packing. Mothers have instincts about men you know" Or at least that was what Jess had told him. His experience with mothers was truly vicarious.

Caroline laughed. "My mother sends everyone packing, don't take offense." She joked. "So no one sees you outside of work, it's not that big a city." She said with a smile. "But at least you do eat."

"I keep to myself." Sam said. "Every once in a while I hit a club or go to the movies. Mostly it's work and working on my truck." He said shaking his head. "I think I should have just replaced the engine, cause I think there might be 3 pieces of it I haven't had to replace so far." He figured he just described himself as the classic serial killer. Keeps to himself, intelligent, nice, helps the neighbor lady take out her garbage. The sort no one would suspect. Nice. He wondered if that were part of the monster inside him.

Caroline laughed. "I know a thing or two about stripping down engines." She said with a grin. "My grandfather was a mechanic, and sure, Dad turned out to be an accountant, but he made sure no one born of his blood would ever have need of a mechanic who would over charge them." She went off on a tangent of feasible ways to shortcut an engine as she ate her food. "Wow, now that I've just bored you to tears..." she said with a chuckle.

Sam grinned then. "Dad was a marine AND a mechanic." Sam said. "My brother and I were rebuilding engines before we were old enough to legally drive. So I bought a truck that was old enough I didn't need a computer to fix it. Once I get it overhauled it will be good as new, but right now she still runs a little rough. "

"Yeah they tend to." Caroline agreed as they ate with companionable small talk and non sequiturs from childhood. The sort Sam could share without revealing anything of where he actually came from, or what his family was actually like.

Sam was enjoying the conversation but eventually their lunch break was over and he had to return to his desk for the last couple of hours of work. He promised himself that he would do this again. He had enjoyed the small talk. Reminded him that he really was supposed to be human, and that involved contact with other human beings. And it might not hurt to take her out to dinner, after all. It wouldn't necessarily be a dangerous thing. If he were careful.

He made his way home at the end of shift, stopping off briefly to buy a 6 pack of beer. The apartment felt empty when he entered and went about his nightly routine.

Dean was going about his own nightly routine, even if it was far different than his brother's. Either brothers really. It consisted of bar crawling and taking back to his motel the first hot girl who would come with him. Which, as an ego stroking move, usually he found one before his second beer was done.

Tonight was no exception, and she was even a cut above the usual crop. He had no worries that he wouldn't remember her name tomorrow, because chances were she wouldn't remember his either. But for one night, it was more than enough.

This was one he didn't even have to work for. They were tearing each other's clothes off before the door was even shut behind them, and soon the whole room was as much a mess as his clothes. He was having the time of his life.

She smiled at him, laughing huskily as she traced lines on his chest, taking a moment to enjoy the after effects of thier calesthenics. "If I had know you were this much fun, I would have done this a long time ago." She told him. Currently her name was Tara, but not too long ago she had been Sam, and before that, it was Meg, and she definitely had a bone to pick with Dean Winchester.

"Lady, you didn't know me a long time ago." He said with a chuckle. Tara, Terri, Sherry, Sara...her name was one of them. He was sure of that. Well, moderately sure of that. "I'm gonna catch a shower." He said, implying either she should let herself out or, shit, why not join him? He wasn't one for cuddling, hadn't been for a long time, and certainly not with someone he just met.

"Oh you've known me longer than you might think." She said with a sweet smile, then her eyes went completely black "Nighty night." She said as her hand grasped his throat in a tight grip, cutting off the blood flow to the brain.

"What the..." He managed to get out before he was gasping for breath as his throat was squeezed. Now this wasn't good. Great, fucking Meg. Why was the world getting all black? Shit, he was naked. Meg? He slept with MEG? That was a new low even for him!

And fortunately for Meg, she was a demon. Because Dean fought back, even if in vain, but managed to cut her pretty little face before slumping over, unconscious from the lack of air.

She laughed as he slumped into unconsciousness. Unfortunately she couldn't possess him. Neither could she touch the damned charm that he wore to prevent possession. But it was a simple enough matter to put him in his own car and drive away. People didn't want to see what went on around them, so they didn't. She drove across town to an old warehouse and pulled the Impala inside. He was starting to come around as she bound him to one of the support pillars.

Dean groaned as one of the ropes was tightened to the point of cutting off circulation and opened his eyes. "Oh great. This is where the bad guy, or girl as is your case right now, tortures the hero for past transgressions, right? You people have to get new stuff."

"Hero?" She laughed at that one. "Don't flatter yourself, Winchester. This has very little to do with you, although hearing you scream is going to be a fringe benefit. But hey, you wanted to see Sam again right? Look at it as another mutually beneficial activity. Remember to scream nicely now, wouldn't want to disappoint your brother. Make it worth that nice headache he's going to get."

"You leave my brother out of this." He snarled. "I was the one who exorcised you and sent you to hell. I was the one that dragged you back to Bobby's when you were wearing my brother. He doesn't have anything to do with this." He was tugging on the ropes, giving himself a nice rope burn along the way, but that bitch wasn't touching his brother.

"Dean, you poor deluded boy." She said as she set up the impliments, letting him see him as she made preparations. "This really honestly has nothing to do with you. Sad thing is, there is very little in your life that does have anything to do with you. You had 4 years where you actually mattered. Where someone actually loved you. But well... mommy had to die and from then on every breath you took was for Sam. " She shook her head. "First as Daddy's little pit bull, and now as the key to unlock all that power inside him. "

"Bitch." He said as he looked at what she was setting up. Oh this was bad. And Dean didn't scare easily. His father once complimented him on his fearlessness. But now, he definitely wasn't fearless. But at least he was wearing boxers. She'd been 'nice' enough to do that. "You think hurting me, or even killing me, is going to send Sam off the deep end?" Sam probably wouldn't even know.

"Oh I think it will bring him running, as quick as the friendly skies can get him here." She said weighing an impliment in her hand for a moment before going on to another one. "But you see, Sam's going to kill you himself. It's part of his destiny. Poor little shmuck thinks running away can save you. " She told him as she made the first cut, tracing the lines between his ribs, not too shallow not too deep. She had a long night a head of her after all.

Dean gritted his teeth against the pain. Stupid bitch just gave him hope. Because she wasn't going to kill him, said so herself. And he knew Sam wouldn't. Sam couldn't, no matter what they tried to do to either of them. So he let out a hiss of air when she was done cutting, only to take another sharp intake of breath when she started on his other side. Felt a little deeper that time, or maybe he was just confused, feeling his own blood run down both of his sides.

"And how's he going to know?" He countered, breathing fast. "Not like we talk every night." No, that was Jack. Who wasn't going to get his phone call later, poor kid.

"You don't think his visions come by accident, do you?" She said as she continued to work. "Besides, I know where he is." She said with a shrug. "We always know where he is. And if he doesn't show up in a day or two, well I'll give him a call."

Dean started laughing. A nearly hysterical, mad sound as he gasped, trying not to breathe. Each breath caused another gush of blood to run down his body. And things were hazy.

But he did know this. If they called Sam, he wouldn't believe them. Not in a million years. So he just hoped they didn't send him a vision. And boy, was Jack going to be pissed that Dean didn't call him nightly. Not like he'd ever admit it was because he was hurt. Seriously hurt, he could tell that even now as she made ribbon cuts down his stomach. That had been his short cut, breath low in his diaphragm, and now she'd taken that away from him.

"God you're stupid." He managed.

"And why is that, baby, cause you think you are going to bleed out? " She asked. "You forget what I am. I could hold you at the edge of death for a hundred years if that was what it took, or suck the life out of you in an instant. I read somewhere, or maybe it was a TV show someone I was wearing saw once, that said there were 5 basic types of torture that all the others spring from. How many do you think we'll get through before he gets here?" She asked, rinsing the blood from his body with salt water.

"You've done sharp. Blunt, cold, hot, and sound. Ooh we're in for a long night." Dean said through a clenched jaw. He was sure his jaw was going to break. "Everyone knows that. Sharp, blunt, hot, cold, sound. Your five basic groups of torture. So where does sex fit in there? Even I'm having trouble figuring that one out."

That's it, Dean. He thought to himself. Keep it going on the flippant side of life.

"Depends on how you do it." She said. "Of course there is also water, and the simple act of standing, or staying in one position for extended periods of time. You humans are such fragile creatures. Being tied to a chair with bumps in the seat has been known to drive hardened men to tears. You know, the irony in all of this is your own kind are the ones that came up with these little gems. I think sex qualifies under emotional or mental torture.. the more you enjoy it... the more it hurts later. That's a completely different list. "

"Sorry, you weren't that memorable." Dean said. That part, he could block out. He compartmentalized sex. "And we had to entertain ourselves somehow waiting for you guys to decide to come bother us. You know what they say about idle hands..." That's when he got slammed in the stomach with a sledge hammer. Not hard enough to do anything like burst needed organs, but it definitely hurt. "And there's blunt. Guess it's too late to convince you that I'm a 'take it slow kinda guy' huh?" He just needed to stay awake. Keep her occupied until she got bored. Long enough for Sam to be convinced this was one huge mistake if he got a vision.

"Easy there, kiddo." Came a voice that Dean had thought never to hear again. "We just put him back together not to long ago. Don't wanna undo all that handy work now do you?" After all possessing a reaper wasn't an easy task, not even for a fallen angel. "Besides, we need him to survive long enough for your brother to get here. " He chuckled, using John's voice, strode closer to Dean using John's legs. "Ironic don't you think... the two of you sharing a brother... Almost makes us family. "

"He's not her brother. And he's not your son." Dean spit out. As hard as it was to say looking into his father's face. With those damn yellow eyes. Dean didn't even want to know how he pulled this one off. Considering he'd personally (with Sam) salted and burned his father's body. A warrior's funeral for the ultimate warrior. And to have his memory desecrated like this...well...they better hope he didn't get loose.

"Oh he is." Said John's voice, silkily smooth. "I was there when he was conceived. I was there when your mother writhed in pleasure under the body I was wearing at the time. Believe me, he is."

Dean worked against the bonds furiously. Wearing his father's visage and talking about his mother like that? Men in history had killed for less. Men historically had died for less. Demons too.

"Look at him. He thinks he's gonna get away." The demon now known as Tara said. "Like a worm wriggling on a hook." She said, as the temperature in the room increased. There were many ways to play with hot, and heat was something she and her father were comfortable with.

The pain shot through Sam's head like an ice pick, and he collapsed to the floor as the images hit him hard, taking his breath away. "Dean." He managed to get out, seeing his brother's body hanging limp against the ropes that bound him to a pillar. He could see that he was breathing but he didn't think that he would be for long. there was blood... so much blood on the floor around him. "Oh god, Dean." He said as he pulled himself to the telephone, dialing his brother's cell phone from memory. "Please let it not be too late."

Dean was screaming, the heat was like fire licking at his open flesh. The two demons in front of him were comfortable, but Dean...Dean was so far from comfortable he didn't remember the zip code. They let his screams fill the warehouse until 'John' suddenly brought the temperature down to a more tolerable level. Tara looked at him questioningly.

"Phone call." He said as he went to the Impala, where Dean had left his cellphone on the dash and picked it up on the seventh ring. "Hello son." He said into the phone with a smirk on his face.

"Sam!" Dean yelled. "Sam, stay away! It's not Dad!" Please don't come, Sam. Don't let me be the reason this all falls apart. Don't come. Hang up.

Sam's blood ran cold at the sound of his father's voice... both of them in one. "Let him go." Sam said in a coldly angry tone. "He has nothing to do with this. You let him go." He knew they wouldn't comply, even if they promised him they would, but he had to say it. He had to try. Dean was alive... and he was well enough to yell. That was at least a hopeful sign.

"He's got everything to do with it." 'John' said. "We were looking at a way to change you. We possessed you, we killed the girl you loved, we forced your father to die. Nothing. But Dean, Dean you'd die for. Dean you'd sell your soul for. And my daughter here, you remember her, right? Well, she's just itching to hurt your brother. Worse than he already is. What are you going to do about it, Sammy?"

"Nothing." Dean said, his voice quickly becoming hoarse. Sam could hear some of it as 'John' paced before Dean. "Nothing you evil son of a bitch."

"Shut him up, will you, darling?" 'John' said to the girl. "We're done with him. Aren't we, Sammy?"

"You kill him and I will never do anything you want." Sam said quickly. "He dies and so does your last chance at me. Where are you?" He asked as he hurried into the bedroom to toss a few changes of clothes into a bag along with his weapons.

'Tara' simply covered Dean's mouth with tape. She knew that her father had no intention of killing Winchester just yet. He was too important in Sam's development.

Dean made muffled yells and noises through the tape, and 'Tara' went back to torturing him. Nothing new, just aggravating everything already done to him. To remind him who had the real power in this situation, and it wasn't Dean Winchester.

"Chicago. And I'd hurry, son. Your brother is such a fragile sack of meat." 'John' said with a laugh.

He got the exact location out of him before heading out the fire escape to the truck 5 stories below. "I'm not your son." Sam told him as he zipped his bag closed. "I'm no more your son than a puppy is to the flea that rides on his mother's back, do you understand me? You were nothing but a hitch hiker. You are not my father."

"Is that how you sleep at night? Repeating that over and over until you believe it? Because if you believed it, you wouldn't have run. You wouldn't have left your precious brother dangling in the wind, waiting to be caught on a spider web like a fly. You wouldn't still be running." 'John' nearly purred into the phone. "But whatever lets you sleep."

"I'm not your son. You tainted my conception. That doesn't make you my father. Hell, that doesn't even make you a sperm donor. " He said as he got into the truck and started it up. "But I will tell you one thing... even if you succeed in turning me one day... you'll never be able to use me. I'll be your enemy till the end of time," He drove for the airport knowing that it would take 20 hours to drive to Chicago, and his brother didn't have that long. Unfortunately it also meant that he wouldn't be able to take any weapons with him.

"You'll see." 'John' said and hung up the phone, turning to his daughter. "We don't have long. But leave him alive, barely, but alive." The sounds of Dean's screams filled the warehouse once more as the tape was ripped off his mouth and 'Tara' continued on.

Sam managed to get a flight leaving within a couple of hours, and arranged for a rental car to be waiting for him. He was shaking with anger and worry. He almost didn't think to call his boss, and in fact he wouldn't have if he hadn't been reflecting on his dinner with Caroline. The conversation was touch and go, but in the end Sam got what he wanted. He wasn't asking for the time off, he was asking for permission to come back to work when his brother had recovered. He liked the life he was building in Salt Lake City. But he would sacrifice it in a heart beat in order to get to Dean in time.

Two hours waiting for the flight, and another three in the air seemed like an eternity to Sam. Each moment that passed made him more anxious, each moment was another moment that Dean was alone and in pain. He signed for the rental car with shaking hands and barely remembered to use the correct name on the paperwork. Even then he drove like a madman to get to the warehouse, by this time, almost 6 hours from the time of the phone call. So much could happen in 6 hours. People died in seconds. Hours ... hours was too much time.

"Dean!" He called out as he entered the warehouse, seeing the Impala parked within. He knew he was in the right place.

Dean didn't answer, he was not in good shape. Breathing, raggedly, as he hung from the post he was tied to limply. Bruised, still bleeding, various parts of his flesh red and blistering, or a deathly pale. His lips were cracked, his eyes were blackened, and a trickle of blood was coming from inside his ear.

Stapled to his chest with a staple gun (that was the least of what had been done) was a note.

'If you really care about him, call us. I can fix it, you know I can. You know the price, but think of the rewards.'

It was unsigned, but there was no doubt who it was from.

Sam got a knife from the Impala, and went to cut Dean free, holding him upright as he did so. "It's gonna be alright. I promise." He told him as he took him out to the rental car. "I'll come back for your baby once I get you taken care of. I won't leave her here." He said, as he lay his brother down in the back seat, and removed the note and the offending staple. He knew the police would get involved and that worried him but he hoped he could smooth that over somehow, so that they didn't think to look at Dean too closely. Not that he looked like his mug shots at all at this point. "I'm sorry... this is all my fault."

Dean groaned a bit as he was moved and dragged, breath hitching in his chest from the offending movement, but he'd take another breath again, allowing Sam to breath as he drove, the note crumpled up on the floor of the rental car as he sped toward the nearest hospital. Finding one, and pulling right into the ambulance bay. If there was a case that got to skip the annoying triage desk, it was Dean's as he was swarmed with doctors and nurses, alternately checking Dean then trying to get some information out of Sam.

"What happened to him?" The doctor demanded as vitals were taken and blood was drawn. The doctor already knew that his patient would need a transfusion. He wasn't ruling out broken bones, or even a skin graft on some of the more burned areas.

"I dont know." Sam said honestly. "He's my brother, if he needs blood we're a match." He told them as he followed closely."We were traveling, supposed to meet here in town and... and... he... God I don't know." He said, managing to pull off freaked out civilian rather well, since it wasn't far from the truth. "What sort of monster does this?" He ran his hands through his hair and stood back allowing the doctors to work on his brother.

"The kind that should be put down like rabid dogs." A nurse muttered as she started an IV line and blood was brought. O negative, compatible with everyone, it would do in a pinch.

"You're going to need to sign some consent forms for your brother." Another nurse said, edging him out of the room. To sign the consents, to get more information, to just get him out of the way.

"I'm not leaving him." Sam said firmly. "I won't get in the way but I'm not leaving." He knew how close to death his brother was, and he didn't want Dean to be alone, not now. He would need to call Jack, but that would have to wait, he couldn't use the cell phone in there and he wasn't leaving.

The doctors ignored him as they worked. It was hours later when the doctor took Sam by the arm and took him outside the room because they were moving Dean.

"We've done all we can." The doctor said. "And I don't know. It's going to be touch and go for the next twenty four hours, he could go either way. He's breathing on his own, that's good. But he hasn't regained consciousness, and he lost a lot of blood. If there's any other family to call, I would call them. We're moving him up to ICU now."

An orderly escorted by a nurse brought Dean's bed out. He had an oxygen mask on, and what wasn't covered by a sheet seemed to be covered in bandages as various tubes dripped fluid and blood into his veins. A heart monitor beeped with every beat of Dean's heart. It was there, not particularly strong or even, but it was there.

"Dean's going to make it." Sam said. "He's strong...he'll pull through." He told them. He had seen his brother survive so many things. He wasn't going to let him die. Not because of him. "Can I go with him? " He had to find a way to finish off the demon, before it finished off his family. There had to be another way, other than the colt. There had to be.

"Sure." The doctor said. "Just follow the stretcher." He said as the stretcher headed up to ICU, where another team of medical people took over. They ushered Sam out of the room, only because they were moving him into a real bed and doing a full assessment, and changing the unconscious man into a gown. Some things brothers didn't need to see.

"Okay, you can go in." The nurse said after a bit. Dean was still hooked up to oxygen, still on all sorts of monitors, and still was getting blood. Still so pale around his bandages, and he still didn't move.

"I know I let you down." Sam said as soon as they were alone and he could sit at his brother's side. "And I have no right to ask anything of you, but I am counting on you to pull through this. You have to pull through this time. I'll do everything I can ... everything Dean... But you have to fight too. "

Dean was fighting. As hard as he could. He even had some help Sam didn't know about.

John had immersed himself in all things mystical and occult after Mary had been killed. After he started hunting. Wanting to know everything and anything to help him in his war. Especially after he'd learned the truth about Maggie, the truth about Sam. And how vulnerable his sons were to everything seen and unseen.

He'd once befriended a medicine man, who taught John more about herbs and plants than any white man had a right to know. He was embraced as a brother, but John's priorities were set. His sons came before the medicine man, so without any guilt, John betrayed him.

Took an ancient ritual and perverted it for his own reasons. Binding Dean to a totem when he was too young to really know any better. Dean had made the final choice, but he had been ten. How much could he really have known? And the one John had chosen for Dean was the bear.

The Native Americans had long held the bear as a protector, a guardian, a healer. And when young Native American men went off to find their totems, their spirit guides, they would be lucky to have the bear as theirs. Steadfast, resolute, and unwavering in devotion. It was just what John needed for Dean when he had forced the two together. To protect Sammy. To protect Dean. To guide when John wasn't there, for he already knew he wasn't half the father that his sons deserved.

The medicine man had never forgiven John for that. But it was one thing John could forgive himself for. It was necessary, and it was beneficial. Like now.

Dean was deep in his own mind, in a coma. Not as close to death as the doctors thought, because he had a friend deep in his mind, who was keeping the reapers away for a bit. No astral translocation this time. Just the bear.

A presence that Dean had always been aware of, hovering close around him at all times. Especially when she was needed. So he sat in a motel room in his mind, cross legged on the floor, and stared at the bear.

"I really did it this time." He said, with a bit of a chuckle, and a bit of a sigh.

"You didn't do it." She said. Her snout didn't move, her mouth didn't open, but her gentle but firm voice rang through the room.

"And here we are again." Dean said. It was only in these moments he was fully aware of what his father had done, what Dean had committed to.

"I warned you there would be so many challenges ahead of you." The bear said as she crossed the room over to him. "So much to fix this time..."

Sam hadn't thought it would take so much will power not to call out for the yellow eyed demon. He knew that giving himself over to them would do nothing but sign Dean's death warrant. That once the transformation was complete he would be as Maggie was, hungry for power and lashing out at anything that had once been held dear. Even knowing that it was hard to watch his brother suffer when he had the key in his hands to save him.

So instead he called Bobby. Jack might be their brother, but Sam hadn't bonded with him the way Dean had. To him the first thoughts of Family was of Bobby. Besides, somewhere in that vast library of his might be some means of protecting Dean from the demons, so that they couldn't do this to him again if he survived. It was a slim hope but it was there none the less.

"Yeah." Bobby said as he answered the phone. "Rumsfeld, get off the counter, boy. Get down. I should shoot your hide full of buckshot you crazy mutt. Now get down." He chuckled before turning his attention back to his caller. "Sorry 'bout that."

"Bobby, it's Sam." He said and followed quickly with "Dean's been hurt... pretty bad. The... they got to him... Meg and her ... her father." He said trying to keep it as cryptic as possible in case there were civilian ears near by. "The doctors aren't real confident but they haven't said it's over yet."

"Sam? Well, that's great. Your brother's been looking for you, like a frantic momma bear for months now." Bobby said. "You two finally meet up and he's unconscious." He shook his head. "Guess I don't have to tell you to brick the room, it will keep them at bay for a bit." Of course, it was a hospital, so it would take vigilance to keep the brick lines in place. "Sam, they did this to flush you out, you know that, right kiddo?"

"They knew where I was. The frigging pizza delivery guy was carrying a hitch hiker... they want me to give in... told me to call him and he would fix it. I gotta find another way." He said as he started to pace. "This is why I left... " He salted the windows and put a subtle line of it around the edge of the bed.

"Do not call him." Bobby said, in a voice more passionate than Sam had ever heard. "Even if your brother dies, do not call him. Samuel, I mean it. Because he'll bring Dean back, but he'll take you. And then either you'll kill Dean later, or Dean will kill you, then himself. Either way Dean is dead. Just don't go that way, I'll see what I can find."

"Dean told you the truth then?" He asked quietly, thinking not for the first time that it might be better if he were dead... or never have been born in the first place. "Bobby... he was using Dad's body somehow... how is that possible?"

"Dean didn't tell me anything. He didn't have to. Though you boys should have." Bobby said. "I figured it out myself." He was a smart man, redneck appearance aside. "He's a fallen, Sam. He can do things like that, illusions. Chances are he never touched your brother because he wasn't corporeal. Just an illusion."

"Then it was all Meg..." He said. "Bobby... there isn't really a way for me to fight this is there?" He swallowed hard, looking at his brother, how badly he had been hurt to get to him. Jessica's death, his mother's death, ultimately his father's. So much pain all because of his existance. Even leaving wasn't enough, not that he could stay. They would just keep throwing things at his brother until they broke if he were near.

"Right now you need to worry about your brother." Bobby said. "I'll see what I can find out on my end. Don't leave Dean until he wakes up." Oh this wasn't going to be good. Somehow Bobby could tell Jack was last on the list to be called. That was not going to be a pretty scene.

"I am worried about Dean... and I'm not going anywhere." He said. Hell worrying about Dean was why he had left in the first damned place. "I need a way that they can't touch him... that I can't touch him if I go over the edge."

"One thing at a time, boy. We need to get Dean out of the woods. Don't go making any deals or anything. Dean's strong. He might pull out of this all by himself, you never know." Bobby said. "Let me make a few calls, see what I can come up with. Where can I reach you at?" Whether it be Sam's cell phone or the phone in Dean's hospital room, he needed a call back number.

Sam thought about it for a moment then gave him the cell phone. Just in case Dean was moved. "Thanks Bobby." He said sincerely and hung up, moving to sit by his brother's side once more. "You gotta hold on Dean... for both of us." Would sound selfish on the surface of it, but not if you knew Dean. His brother would willingly lay down and die if he thought it would save someone else, or even give them that chance to be saved. But he would fight until the end of time if it were for someone else as well. Sam knew he had to trigger that survival instinct somehow. He knew they had told him things while he was being tortured. Things to make him want to give up. It's what Demons did. They ate you alive from the inside out. He just hoped his brother was strong enough not to listen.

Bobby hung up the phone and looked at his rolodex for a minute. Not really a rolodex, more like a pile of scraps of paper in a drawer, but he'd come to nickname it the rolodex. Sounded nearly classy, which always made him grin when he thought of it. But not today. There was no grinning today as he shuffled through them for a number Dean had given him, in case something happened. And something had happened.

This could work out for the best, maybe there was another way.

Ben picked up the phone when it rang. "Hello?" He said. Years of raising Jack had taught him passable phone etiquette. Something had to, after he'd nearly bitten off the head of his third grade teacher when she'd called at a very reasonable hour of ten in the morning.

"Yeah ah, hello. I'm looking for Jack." He said, thinking better of telling Ben what was going on just yet. Better any pleas come from the kid, not the guy he kept threatening to flash fry.

"You sound a little old to be looking for Jack." Ben said with a raised eyebrow. He recognized the voice, just couldn't place it. "Hold on. Jack! Phone." And Ben would be staying on the extension.

"Wasn't aware there was an age limit." Bobby said inspite of himself.

"I got it." Jack called from his room and picked up the extension. "Dean is that you? You didn't call me back last night, man, she had better be hot cause I was worried as hell." He said making assumptions as no one else seemed to elicit that tone from Ben. The I don't quite approve but I'll put up with it tone.

"Ah...it's not Dean." Bobby said, uncomfortable. "My name is Bobby Singer, you don't know me, but I know Dean. It's about Dean. He gave me this number in case something happened to him." Ben was still on the extension, and the name Bobby Singer elicited a growl that was barely covered by the mute button.

"What's happened?" Jack asked as he turned off his computer. "He said he was going after a poltergeist last night. How badly hurt is he?"

"He never got to the poltergeist. The Demon got to him first. He's in Mercy Hospital in Chicago, and he's not good." Bobby said as he poured himself a shot of whiskey. He'd watched Dean grow up, he'd seen the man Dean had become. The news that he might die, tonight, was hard. It was hitting him. "He's in the ICU. Thought you should know." Because Jack was Dean's brother, was John's son.

"I never should have come back here." Jack said with a growl. "I had a bad feeling and I should have listened to it... thanks for calling me. I'll get there as soon as I can. What name is he using?"

"Good." Bobby said. "I'm looking for things on my end. If your guardian knows of any, now's the time to ask. While there's still time. He's under Dean Carlson. Was his momma's maiden name. Get there, as soon as you can." Because even Sam didn't sound optimistic. Even when Dean had been on life support, he'd been optimistic.

"I'm on my way." Jack said and hung up. "Ben!" He yelled as he ran down the stairs. "Ben! I have to get to Chicago fast." He said, not caring about what the reaction would be. He would get on a plane if Ben couldn't help him. Drive if it came to it but that was longer than he wanted to wait.

"I know." Ben said with a sigh. No talking him out of this one. "Go pack a bag. I'm serious, when your brother is awake and aware, the last thing he wants to do is smell you first. Go." Wasn't like it was really wasting time. Ben could have him there in a blink as he went to his own computer and looked up the layout of Mercy Hospital, for somewhere nice and discreet to slide into. "And call Kaylie and tell her." Gave him time to look around the bluepints he found.

Jack was back up the stairs just as quickly as he had come down them, picking up the phone as he tossed clothing into a bag. "Kaylie?" He said into the phone. "I-I have to go to Chicago for a while. It's Dean."

"What? Jack, slow down. You know, forget it. I'm going with you. Don't argue." She said as she threw clothes into a book bag. "Don't argue, I'm two blocks away." She said as she headed to her car. Because if Dean was in trouble, the deep serious one that it sounded like, then he needed someone with him. Ben was great, she liked Ben, but Ben wasn't so great at the comforting part of life.

"Okay... we'll wait... we're traveling the fast way though." He said and told her goodbye before hanging up. If Dean were dying he was going to need Kaylie there. He ran his hands through his hair and headed back down the stairs bag in hand. "Kaylie is coming too... look... I don't ask questions about these things... cause I really kinda like pretending we're normal for the most part. But ...is there anything that can be done, if Dean is too far gone for medical help?"

Ben paused as he shut his computer down. He had a good spot where there shouldn't be many people, and if anyone did see, well, it would be discounted. Psych wards were great that way. Once there he could feel for a more appropriate closer spot. But it was a nice jumping off point.

"There are always ways." He said carefully. "Just some cost higher than others. For example, your mother. But there are always ways."

"Okay... are there ways that don't cost someone else's life or their soul?" Jack asked. Dean would never forgive himself much less anyone else if it cost someone that much to save him, and he said as much. He had just found his brother, he didn't want to lose him. Not physically and not mentally or emotionally.

Ben shook his head. "Sure, there are." Ben said. "You've got your one in a million honest to true faith healer. Your medicine men and shamen. Your witches and warlocks. Healing demons..." he listed off what he knew off the top of his head. "Can we just see how he is first?" Because everything in the occult came with a price.

Kaylie came in and put her keys on the counter. "Okay." She said. "Ready?"

Jack nodded. "Yeah... let's go see how he is first." But he knew it was bad. If it hadn't been, Dean would have called him, not some stranger. "Someone should have been with him." He muttered, thinking that someone was Sam, but feeling a little guilt on his own part as well.

"If you had been there, they would have just killed you outright." Ben pointed out as he took hold of Jack's arm, then Kaylie's. "Because you weren't important to their own goal, so let's give thanks to whatever that you weren't there." He said then slid into a psych ward, where a couple of people in straight jackets looked at them in wonder, then he slid them into an empty hallway near the ICU.

Kaylie hated traveling this way. It wasn't pleasant, but she managed, taking a deep breath when it was done. "Okay, ICU is..." she read the sign, "that way." They walked down the corridor and entered the ICU. Dean was close to the nurses' station, and with the clear walls they could see him, still unconscious as Sam held vigil.

Jack's jaw clenched tightly. "Speaking of the devil himself." He said barely keeping his temper in check as he strode quickly toward the glass walled room and his brothers. "How is he?" He asked Sam tightly, wanting nothing more than to beat the hell out of the man right then.

"Not good." Sam said tiredly. "He's breathing on his own but... that's about the best I can say at the moment."

Kaylie recognized Sam as she followed Jack in. So it took Dean being beaten into a coma to reconnect them all. Nice. And to think they were all human too. Ben watched the scene and went and found a doctor, identifying himself as a cousin. It worked, enough anyway.

"It's not good." The doctor said softly. "The longer he's in a coma, the worse his prognosis. He should have woken up by now."

Kaylie saw Ben and the doctor whispering and held onto Jack's arm as she looked at the bruised, pale and wrapped form of his oldest brother. "So...um...Sam...can we get you anything?" She could feel the tightness of Jack's muscles through his shirt. He was ready to spring like a coiled cobra if Sam so much as breathed wrong.

Sam shook his head. "No." He said raggedly. "I'm okay."

Jack glared at him then, and if he had been anywhere but the hospital he would have beat the hell out of him. or at least given it a good try. "Yeah I can see that. Does he know you are back?" He asked instead.

"I don't know." Sam told him. "He knew I was coming... " Had yelled for him not to, but Sam couldn't listen. Not with his brother's life on the line. Even so it seemed as though it was too little too late. One look at Jack and he could tell that the youngest Winchester felt the same way. Too little too late. This was all his fault.

Jack shook his head and went to stand over by Dean's bed. "Hey, man, I'm here. But you seriously gotta open your eyes for us."

Ben came and stood at the door, nodding to the doctor. "The doctor told me something you guys should hear." He said.

The doctor cleared his throat. "He's not getting better. We should have seen a turn by now. We haven't. I'm sorry."

"What are you saying?" Sam asked a look of horror in his dark eyes. "My brother's not dying. Not like this...not now." He said. How many times had he said something like that and been right? How many times had Dean come through it all to fight again. He wasn't going to lose his brother. He couldn't. It would make everything he had done the last few months for nothing.

"Again, I'm sorry. But if he doesn't make an improvement in the next few hours, we're going to have to have a discussion about comfort care." The doctor said.

Kaylie covered her mouth. She liked Dean, since he had proven he could keep Jack in one piece. Sam she was unsure of. But she knew Dean didn't deserve this, he was a good guy. "There's nothing you can do?"

"We've done everything we can." The doctor said.

A few hours, then he was going to be written off. Pumped full of morphine for the pain and left to die. No... Dean wasn't going to die this way. Not with the last thing he remembered being that son of a bitch wearing their father's face. Sam couldn't allow him to go into the afterlife that way. No... it wasn't going to happen. "I think I'm going to be sick." He said as he left the room in a hurry. Privacy ... he needed privacy.

Jack watched as Sam left the room and shook his head. He didn't know how to feel about Sam at the moment. He was still too angry at the pain he had put Dean through, but he could see that the man cared. How much it was tearing him apart inside to see this. He wasn't ready to forgive Sam, didn't know that he ever would, now that they were losing Dean, but he wasn't going to make things worse. Not here. Dean deserved better than that.

Ben gave Jack's shoulder a squeeze. "I'm going to go get some coffee. And sandwiches." He said. The kids would need something to eat. Ben could see quite clearly that it was worse than they thought, and they'd be here until it ended one way or another. "I'll be back."

Kaylie sat down in another chair. She'd never had anyone die on her, not anyone she knew. And one look at Jack showed he wouldn't take it well. She watched Sam leave. He was leaving now? Especially now? She didn't get this family at all.

Sam entered the bathroom, and closed and locked the door. "Alright." He said in defeat. "You win... Show yourself and let's get this over with." He said looking into the mirror, thinking of all the times Dean had given up so much of himself for him. So much that was demanded of him that he had simply given with out a single complaint. He didn't deserve this. He didn't deserve to die for Sam's sake. Not for his life... not for his soul either. He wouldn't let it happen.

He came through the door, still wearing John's visage. "You were always my favorite you know." He said in John's voice. "You were his too. Dean, he was a weapon. But you...you are power. Welcome home."

Sam turned and looked at his father, wishing it were John he was looking at. "No... I wasn't his favorite. I was his cross to bear." Sam said as he leaned against the sink. "I don't come cheap." Sam said looking into yellow eyes. "And if he doesnt come around, and heal, the deals off." Power. If he had so much power, why was it he always felt so helpless and lost. "So what do we do?"

'John' smiled. It was an eerie smile that should have no place on John's face. "When the time comes, you'll know. I'll call for you, and you will come. Because the deal works both ways. You fail me, your brother dies so painfully and so slowly he'll wish he'd never been born."

"So ... what... the deal is done? I can just skim the shadows and toss people around like rag dolls now? Nothing more than just saying okay?" Sam asked looking at the 'man' before him. "You leave Dean alone after today. So long as I don't break the deal you leave him be. "

"I have no interest in him." He said. "But you have to leave him alone after today." Because he knew that Sam could only completely give himself over if Dean wasn't there to stop him. Dean had been such a stumbling block for so long. "Not even a glance."

Those words cut him to the core of his being, but he nodded. He had seen the vision. Being anywhere near his brother would cause his death. They would fight and Dean would die. "Fine... but that is all you get to control about what I do." Sam told him bluntly. "I will leave my brothers and my past behind, but I will do as I damned well please in all other things." For instance making sure that every other brother or sister he had out there went straight to hell once they crossed the lines.

"Of course." The demon said, and disappeared. It was such a slippery slope, he had no doubt Samuel would come around.

Dean and the bear were hard at work trying to fix him before time ran out. For the bear could only fight off death so long. Dean just had no intention of dying. Not now, not in a few hours. Not even tomorrow. So they were working as hard as they could on what they could when Dean stopped and looked around his mind.

"God, no. Not again." He said, knowing far more in his mind than he did consciously. "He's here."

The bear rose to her back feet and looked around sniffing the air, and growled lowly. "You have no place here, Demon. This is my world you intrude upon. Leave." She said moving in front of Dean's consciousness, protecting him from this new assault.

"I'm here to help." The demon said, no longer wearing John, hands outstretched. "So suspicious, it hardly becomes you. Either of you."

"Help? Don't make me laugh. Get out of my mind. I don't want your help." Dean said.

"You may not want it, but you're not the one who asked for it." The demon said, looking around. "My, we certainly have our work cut out for us here, don't we?"

The bear roared at him now, massive teeth bared. This was her cub, had been given over to her while he was still a babe, and she would not let this creature defile him a second time. One massive paw swiped across the creature, wounding it in a way the demon had never felt before. "His is the only will that matters in this place."

"Now, see, that's why I like her." Dean said, punching the demon. It didn't do a lot, the swipe of bear's paw did more. But damn, it felt good. In that whole astral subconscious sort of way. "Get the fuck out of my head before she eats you."

"I can't do that. My boy asked his daddy very nicely to fix his broken toys. And that's what I'm going to do." The demon said as he reached out to heal one of the more pressing injuries. "Damn, gotta admire the girl's handy work." He said just as the bear knocked him away, not allowing him to work any of his black magic upon her cub.

"I will not ask you again." She said, rearing up to her full height, of 9 feet, 5 inch claws coming down across the demon's face.

Dean nearly laughed. "Dude, she told you once. Actually, twice." Dean said as he moved around the demon to start fixing himself. Because he had no time to waste. He was already feeling...faded.

The demon reared back and wiped the blood off his face. It had been a long time since he had seen his own blood. And a mere bear had shown it to him. "Doesn't matter. If you fix him, he'll think I did it anyway."

"Leave." She roared again. Because it did matter. even a word of mouth contract was binding by the letter, not the spirit. Samuel might slide down that slope on his own, lured in by lies, but if the deal were not kept by the demon, then there was a chance to redeem him. And it was important to her cub that Samuel be redeemed. "You are not welcome here." She said raking her claws across him once more. She had better things to do, more important things to do than fight off the demon that stood before her, and very little time to do it in, but even she didn't have the power to destroy one of God's first creations. She could only wound him, and hope that he would go about his way.

The demon smirked. It was the appearance that would matter to Sam. So he left, fading from Dean's mind as Dean gave a sigh of relief. "We don't have much time." Dean said with barely restrained panic. Not much time, no time. Everything was about time, and he didn't have much of it left.

Ben came back with sandwiches and handed a few to Kaylie and Jack. "Sam's not back yet?" Dean had chased across the country after a brother that couldn't manage to stay in the room with him when he was dying.

"Not yet." Jack said with a scowl. "Guess we know which one of my brothers takes after my father, don't we?" He rested his hand on Dean's arm, wishing there was more that he could do.

Sam had indeed gotten sick once the demon left. He could almost feel the darkness squirming inside him, wanting a way out to the surface, but he beat it down into submission. He had to make sure the bastard kept his end of the bargain. Had to see Dean open his eyes and be whole again. He had to tell him good bye. He entered the room, still looking a little green around the edges and didn't have to ask to see that there had been no change, Or that there was probably only one person in the room that wanted him there, and he was on the verge of death.

"Nice of you to stop by." Ben said as he leaned against the wall. He was never one for being very polite. "I've got some messages out, but I don't know if they'll get back to me in time." He said. The demon community was wide and vast, and communication was a whole other ballgame, something most humans couldn't comprehend.

A nurse came in and went about changing Dean's dressings. Unwrapped, they were worse than most could imagine and still be compatible with life. But the nurse worked quickly and discreetly. The patient might stop breathing at any moment, and she didn't have the heart to kick the family out. Kaylie pointedly looked away as Dean's injured flesh was exposed, Ben narrowed his eyes.

"So, Sam, where were you when this all went down? This went down because of you?" He said.

"You have no idea what you're talking about." Sam said in a quietly warning tone, he had done everything in his power to avoid this scene. This moment when Dean lay dying before him. "Let it go." He glanced at the nurse, waiting for her to make her exit, then turned his attention back to his brother, waiting for some sign that he had made this sacrifice in time.

"No? Then why don't you tell us?" Jack said, as soon as the woman left the room. "Where were you while Dean was chasing all over the country chasing after hunts that you set up for him. All he wanted was to find you and have his family back. Why did you have to do it this way? You could have gone off and had a normal life without hurting him like that. "

"I did it because I had to. I did it to avoid this. You think because you live with him," he said indicating Ben, "that you know what's out there or what it's about? You don't. You have no fucking clue so don't sit there and judge me. Yes this is because of me, and the only thing that would have happened differently if I had stayed would be that it would have happened sooner. "

"Bull shit." Jack said.

"Bullshit? What's bullshit, little brother? That you don't know your supernatural ass from a hole in the ground ? How many demons have you killed? How many are on your ass? How many are killing everything you ever cared about just because they can?" God he reminded him of his father. Not the words but the tone, the glare, the way he held himself. It made Sam want to rage at him as he had once raged at John. "This," he said pointing at Dean, "is what happens to people that get too close. So do us both a favor and stay clear."

"Excuse me." Ben said. "Who's the us? Who's the one to stay clear from? Because if Jack wasn't here, there was a good chance that Dean would die alone. Do you think he deserves that?"

"All of you stop it!" Kaylie said, laying a restraining hand on Jack's tense arm. "Stop it! Dean is dying and you guys want to argue?"

"You aren't that stupid." Sam said looking at Ben. Maybe this one could kill him if he provoked him right. Maybe he could just die and be done with it all with the right monster on the other side of the fight. "You know damned well what I meant. If it were Dean that people needed to stay clear of, he would have been the one running, not me." He looked at Kaylie then back at his brother. "He's not dead yet. Don't give up on him yet, he has come back from worse, believe it or not... he'll come back this time." He said going to stand next to Dean's bed.

"Now who's being stupid?" Jack said bluntly. "This is it... this is all that you have left with Dean. Don't cheat yourself because you feel too guilty to accept the reality of the situation." If it weren't for Kaylie, Jack would have laid the older man out by now.

"Sure. I'm a demon. Got an ugly past that would give you nightmares, Mr Hunter Extraordinaire. But if you're feeling guilty about your brother, don't take it out on us. Jack has as much right to be here as you do." Ben said

"Will you please stop yelling? They say people in comas can hear." Kaylie said, once more trying to diffuse the situation as she held onto Jack's arm.

"The us I was refering to was me and Jack." Sam said with a frustrated sigh. "He should stay clear of me...not get close to me.. because people that get close to me die horrible deaths... because of me. Is there anything else you need an english to english translator for?" He asked. He felt surly. He wanted a fight. Wanted to chase away the darkness that was no longer hovering over him... but working its way through him.

He wanted to be in that bed dying, not his brother.

"Come on... don't give up, Dean. You've never listened to doctors before, don't start now." Come one you sorry son of a bitch, I gave you what you wanted, don't make me wait until the day is done to wake him. Don't take what little time I have left with him too. "Just open your eyes... please."

Dean made a sound. Kinda. More like a low groan crossed with a loud exhale. The brothers leaned closer, in case Dean wanted to say something. Probably something flippant and ironic, but something all the same. But he didn't make a sound. The heart monitor did, as it let out a single tone, indicating an absence of heart beat.

"NO!" Sam exclaimed in genuine shock. This couldn't be happening. He had made the deal. He had kept his end of the bargain, Dean couldn't be dying. He couldn't. No... no no no no no . He shook his head, not looking away from his brother for a moment as the nurses shoved him out of the way, as they came in with the crash cart. "No." He growled softly. "Don't you die like this, don't you do it." He would have given anything to keep Dean alive, even if he had to walk away forever, just knowing that he was safe from the demon would have been enough. He couldn't lose him this way though... not this way.

Jack closed his eyes slowly. He had expected this moment from the time he had walked into the hospital room. He had smelled death in the air, for lack of a better way to put it. Even though it wasn't truly Sam's fault that thier brother was dying, Jack blamed him. He blamed him for the sadness Dean had felt the last weeks of his life, for the lost look in his eyes, for the way he had blamed himself for Sam's absence. Things that he shouldn't have had to go through with so little life left. He pulled Kaylie into his arms and buried his face in her hair.

The medical staff was working quickly. Seconds counted now, even though they knew it was the end of this young man's life, they had to try. "Ready." Someone said. "Clear." Someone else said, and then the monitor said beep. A brief pause then another beep. Followed by a series of heathy, strong beeps, as though his heart had never stopped beating.

Sam let out his breath and sank to the floor. "Thank you." He said, to someone that he had never thought to give thanks to in his life. He leaned against the wall and let the tears that had been locked behind his dark eyes fall. Dean was alive. His brother was going to live.

Jack looked up, first at his brothers, then to Ben in confusion. He was relieved, but he was also confused. Something seemed off in this... something seemed very off.

"We didn't do anything." A nurse said. They'd never activated the paddles, just laid them on his chest. It took more than that to restart a heart. But they took his vital signs, they were strong, healthy. Like the vital signs of someone Dean's age should be. They shook their heads as they left. It was a miracle, and miracles were far and in between.

Kaylie held onto Jack as the sound of Dean's heart beat filled the room. No longer a harbinger of death, but one of hope. While Ben stared at Sam with a dark gaze. He knew.

It was the only explanation he could think of, not being one for miracles himself. And an explanation he'd seen before with another Winchester boy. And he shook his head at Sam.

Dean coughed, weakly. But he coughed as he moved the oxygen mask off his face. He looked around the room, his eyes settling on Sam. "So...this is...what I...have to do...to get...you to answer...your damn phone?" He said, out of breath after that one sentence. But there was humor in his eyes as he gave Sam a little grin, squeezing Jack's hand so Jack wouldn't think Dean didn't know he was there.

"Hey I called you, remember." Sam said smiling broadly. He didn't see the look in Ben's eyes. Wouldn't have cared if he had. His brother was alive. That was all that mattered to him right then. And there were several hours left in the day. "These near death experiences are getting a little frequent, don't you think? Starting to think you're doing it for attention." He was practically vibrating. Dean was alive, and awake.

Jack squeezed Dean's hand in return. "Good to have you back with us." He said to Dean. Unlike Sam, he had seen the look from Ben. He was going to have to speak to his guardian once all the excitement wore down. He doubted Dean had energy for much excitement.

"Good to be back." Dean said softly. It was easier to speak, and he didn't get as winded, if he spoke softly. Then he raised an eyebrow at his brother. "Where's my car?"

Ben slipped out of the room. He had some thinking to do on how to approach this. Besides, this was a family thing. He'd stayed to make sure Sam and Jack hadn't torn each other apart before they knew what the outcome was. Now they knew. Besides, he needed a cigarette.

"Much easier ways to get attention." Kaylie agreed. "Are you in pain? Do you need me to get a nurse?"

"Yes. No." Dean said. "I'm fine. I'm good."

Sam looked him over, knowing what his brother's pain tolerance was like, and what it looked like when he was crossing the lines. "Christine is at the warehouse still. I'll go get her later tonight." He promised. "You were a mess, better to ruin the upholstry of the rental than your car." He said."I promise she is in one piece." He said stepping closer to the bed.

"If she lets you drive her." Jack pointed out, winking at Dean. "I think you have her pretty much completely pissed off." He would let his anger go for now. Dean didn't need the tension.

Dean laughed. Then scowled. "I think I'm going to vomit." He said and Kaylie rushed to get him a basin. "Dudes, I screwed a demon. Seriously."

"Could be worse things in life, right?" Kaylie offered. "I mean, it wasn't the sex that nearly killed you."

"Dude, I keep warning you about your taste in women." Sam said, although the laughter didn't reach his eyes. He had figured it had taken a lot to get the drop on him. "So, from here on out when you pick up a one night stand, spike her beer. If she spews smoke... don't take her home."

"Oh that was low. That was really really low." He said, thinking of his one night stand. "Could really use amnesia right now." He looked from Sam to Jack and back. That was the easiest thing to move, his eyes. And luckily for him they were nice enough to keep in eyeshot without him having to move his head much. Which was pounding, but it was bearable. "How long was I out for?"

"Not even a day." Kaylie said.

"I don't know how long you were out before I got there. " Sam said. "I flew in from Salt Lake City, it took me about 6 hours to get to you total." It didn't matter if Dean knew now. He wouldn't be staying in one place any longer. It was a nice little pipe dream. He couldn't go back to his little apartment, his job and the girl that seemed to genuinely be interested now that he had taken those steps.

"Salt Lake, huh?" Jack said. "Well, you said he would be in the place we would least expect him to be. So what brought you this way?"

"Vision. I called to warn Dean and it was too late. Suppose I should know that demon prompted visions don't seem to have any advance warning to them. "

Dean looked at Sam. He was telling Dean where he was. No, where he had been. His mind was still cloudy and fuddled up, but he knew that. "Well, you got there." He said. That's what mattered in the end. Sam was alright, Dean would be all right, Jack was there. Even though every fiber of his body felt like it was on fire, and even talking hurt, it was a good day.

Sam pulled a chair over close to Dean's bed, and talked. He shared the details of his life for the past two months, finding out what had happened in Dean's. He had just a few precious hours, he didn't want to waste them being evasive. Jack relaxed on the surface, but was still concerned about what had happened. He wanted to find out what it was that had Ben giving Sam 'the look'. So when Dean drifted off to sleep, with the next round of pain meds, he excused himself, reaching for Kaylie's hand.

"We have to figure out where we are staying tonight, gonna pick up something to eat too, you want something?" He asked Sam.

"I'm good, thanks. My stomach is still tied up in knots from earlier. " He said and rested his arms on the siderails of the bed, propping his head up on his arms and closed his eyes for a few minutes.

An hour later, Sam was still sleeping on Dean's siderail. "You drool on me and I swear I'll kick your ass." Dean said when he woke up. He felt...well, better was too strong a word. But not as bad as he had. A part of him was surprised that Sam was still there, actually. Considering last time he had fallen asleep with his brother in the room, he woke up to find Sam gone.

Sam lifted his head. "Hey, you're awake." He said and wiped his face, blinking the sleep out of his eyes. "You okay? Do you need anything?" He asked. He wished the bastard had take the pain away as well but he supposed he should just be happy that Dean was going to live through this. He hated that Dean had endured it to begin with. And Meg, that was how Sam still thought of her, was really going to pay for what she had done to him. Especially the way she had gone about capturing him in the first place.

"Chlorox for the mind would be a good start. But I'll settle for some water." Since the nurses had been nice enough to leave the water pitcher right out of reach. "Watch out." He warned as he fiddled with the controls until he managed to get the head of the bed up. "I'm fine, really. Been through worse, right?" He said with a grin, a shadow of what it usually was, but it was there.

"I know..." Sam said, dark eyes haunted and sad. But it's over, you're safe now." In ways that Dean didn't realize he was safe. It was part of the deal. The demon had to leave him alone now. "I ahm... I'm sorry, Dean. I really am."

"It's never over, Sam." Dean said with a sigh as he poured himself a glass of water and paused to drink it. His throat felt a bit better now. "And I swear to God if you bring up this 'I'm sorry' bullshit one more time, at all, ever, I'm going to seriously hurt you. I mean it, Sam. This isn't your fault."

"Actually... it is." He said calmly. "Because I have been playing hard to get since... " He sighed. "Since things started happening. This was definitely because of me. But that isn't what we need to be talking about anyway." Sam had planned on how to break things to Dean. "I'm sorry I ran off without talking to you, but I didn't want to make things harder than they had to be. "

Dean looked at Sam. And managed to raise an eyebrow. "You're kidding me, right? I was just supposed to let you slip off into the night because you were back on your kick again? You've known me your whole life, how did you think you were going to get away with that?"

"Because the alternative was to tell you that ... that it's started. That I'd started to lose myself into the darkness. With Jack there, and you two hitting it off, I didn't have to leave you alone and you didn't have to worry about Dad's bullshit promise."

"Sam..." Dean said. "No. I don't accept that. Too frigging bad, but I don't accept that. How lost could you possibly be when you're here? Right now you're here. What's your explanation for that?"

"It's a process, you know that." Sam told him. "You know that. Maggie was practically mom of the year to Jack for years.. and was torturing little boys on the side." He held up his hand. "No I haven't gone that far into the dark side but ... dude, I don't want you to be there when I do. And I don't want you to be the one that has to put me down when it gets ugly. You can't survive that. I know you."

"Ever stop and think that I could stop it?" Dean asked. "Dad seemed to think I could. And I know I can. Sam, you're not a coward, don't start acting like one. And what's all this about how I'd react? Really not important if I can stop my brother from becoming as dark and demented as he thinks he's destined to be. As he THINKS he's destined to be, Sam."

"Dean." Sam said firmly. "I know what's happening is something you don't want to think about. I don't blame you. I don't like it either but damn it ... you couldn't kill me before, when I was trying to kill you ... when I was possessed and you didn't know until you hit me with holy water, don't give me any bull on that one. You would rather let me kill you than protect yourself from me... and I can't let that happen."

"That's bullshit and you know it." Dean said. "So what's the plan, Sammy? Wait until the nurse comes to dope me up again and then just disappear? Again? You're seriously going to make me chase after you again, aren't you? Out of some misguided effort to try and protect me? It's not your place to protect me, Sammy. I'm the one that's supposed to protect you, even if it's from yourself."

"The hell it isn't my place to protect you. You're my brother. I love you, ya moron. That's enough reason and right, right there. And if I don't think I need to wait for you to be drugged to leave, Dean. I wanted to say goodbye right this time. But you can't chase after me, Dean. I can keep them off of you but not if you chase after me." He wasn't allowed to look back. That meant he couldn't have Dean behind him. Had to stop him some how.

"What?" Dean said, sitting up. And immediately regretting it as he held his stomach, where some of the more vicious wounds were. "You didn't. Sam, you did NOT make a deal with THEM for MY benefit. Tell me right now you didn't do that, Sammy." Not again. His father had done that, he was sure of it. And it had turned out real well for all of them. "Sammy, you didn't do that, tell me you didn't do that. Tell me I'm misreading this."

"You are misreading it." Sam said. "I said I could keep them off of you. I didn't say I turned myself over to them. It's okay. You are going to go somewhere and recover. Preferably with the baby of the family. I am going to go play exorcist for as long as I am able. Send as many of them to hell as I can before I get there myself. You are not to come after me. I don't give a damn what Dad made you promise, or what I made you to promise in a drunken stupor. It wasn't right of either of us. It's not your job. I can't be saved, and you can't kill me. Talk to Ben about what it took to get rid of Maggie... I won't have you going through that again. She did enough to you."

"The hell it's not my job." Dean said. "Sam, it's been my job almost my whole life. Can't expect me to quit now just because you think your balls have dropped. Sam, come on, we'll figure this out together." A feeling of desperation was flooding over him, because right now he wasn't physically strong enough to get out of bed, never mind chase after Sam when he left. And Sam knew that. This was his fault, because of a weakness he couldn't control. "Maggie has nothing to do with this. She's gone. You're not."

"But I will be and I don't want you anywhere near what's left when that happens. Not you, not Jack, no one. Just... be happy that I am going to take as many of the out before hand as I can." He could see the desperation in his brother's eyes. "Dean... do you have any idea what you mean to me?" Sam asked him. "I never had parents, and I didn't need them, because I had you. You have always taken care of me, you've always sacrificed everything from the last of the Lucky Charms to the blood in your veins for me. It's killing me knowing that if you are anywhere near, I will kill you. I've seen it... you have to stay away when I go."

"Sam..." Dean said. Wished he was in better shape. He could argue more. Until he was blue in the face. Or at least convincingly lay down the law. "Don't leave again." He said simply. How could his brother honestly expect him not to go where Sam went? To at least try to pull him out of whatever darkness he thought he had fallen into?

Sam didn't say anything else. He just sat there with his brother, trying to find the strength to complete his end of the bargain. Each time he walked away, it became harder. And he knew now why he had slipped away in the dead of night before. It was so hard to look Dean in the face and tell him good bye. "So what hotel were you staying in? Figure I can get your stuff or something before they find the weapons stashed around the place. "

"Tompkins." Dean said and gave him the room number. He was still shaking his head, wishing he could find the words to convince his brother to stay. "You know, most of my life, it was just the three of us. You, Dad, me. You guys were all I had. Now Dad's gone. And you're bent on leaving. Sure, there's Jack, but it's not the same. So what's left of me, Sam? What's left? My whole life has been taking care of one or both of you. So if neither of you are there, what's left?"

Sam took a deep breath then, and fought the tears that welled in his eyes. "You have to find that for yourself, Dean. But there is so much more to you than taking care of me... always has been, you just haven't wanted to see it. Dad wouldn't let you see it because then he might have to be the adult in the family." He sighed. "Maybe you should look up Cassie... settle down somewhere... make more little Winchesters. You were an amazing big brother... and a good father. You should share that part of yourself with others, Dean... don't lay down and die. Don't make all this for nothing. I need to know that you're okay out there somewhere. That maybe you get to be happy for once in your life."

"Don't worry about little Winchesters. Junior is wracking his brain for an appropriate proposal." Dean said. "And if I promise to curl up into a pile of misery and slowly wither away, will that change your mind?" He couldn't see the tears in Sam's eyes, his eyes were too blurry from his own. His brother was leaving him. He'd walk out that door and Dean wouldn't see him again, the way Sam made it sound. Dean was never good at letting go. He still hadn't fully let go of their mother. How could Sam expect Dean to let go of him so easily?

"It's not that simple, Dean. I wish it were, but it's not." He rested his hand over his brother's. "It's not because I don't care, Dean, I swear. This is just how things have to be. You just gotta promise me to try and find a way to be happy in this life. It won't change anything if you don't... and I promise Meg is going to pay for this. And not just a little."

"Well, that's the first plan you've had all night I agree with." Dean said. "So let me see if I get this straight, just so I'm not surprised this time. The nurse is going to come and drug me because she figures I must be in pain. I'll fall asleep. I'll wake up in a few hours and my car keys and stuff will be where you're sitting but you won't be. But if I refuse the pain meds and stay awake, I'll have to watch you walk out. And you'll have to know that I watched you. And there's no way to change your mind and convince you you're being an idiot?"

"Yeah that's pretty much it." He said, hating this as much as his brother did. "I don't have to go just yet... we have a little time left before I have to go." So long as the nurses didn't chase him out because of visiting hours. He would stay as long as he could.

Dean nodded and squeezed his brother's hand. "Okay." He said. He didn't agree with it, he didn't like it, but it wasn't like he was in a condition to hold Sam down right now. He'd given it his best guilt trip to no avail. "I don't know how long the docs are going to keep me in here, without you there to smuggle me out. You'll have a nice headstart. I don't know, maybe I'll go to Texas. Maybe Miami, think there's a girl there that still likes me." Cassie...there was a lot of hurt there, hurt he didn't fully realize or remember until her name was mentioned. "Take a break." Because even he would admit his body would need it. "Going to be weird without you there, you know that, right?"

"I'm gonna miss you too." For a little while at least. He didn't figure there was going to be much human left of him for long. The demon said he would call and Sam would have to answer. He figured that answer would be with what was left of his soul. "But hey, Texas won't be so bad. Jack really cares about you. It was obvious. I thought for sure he was going to take my head off. You won't have to be alone."

Dean quirked a grin. Alone. He got that now. That was Sam's biggest fear, that Dean would be alone. It was Dean's biggest fear too. "Yeah, he's a good kid. Even if he's whipped." Dean said. The nurse came in.

"I can give you something for the pain if you need it." She offered, and surprisingly, Dean nodded.

"Yeah, I could use it." He said as she injected it into his IV line. The pain he could handle. Watching his brother walk away, he couldn't. He'd make this easy on Sam, since it was happening regardless. His eyes widened for a moment as the drugs hit him. "Wow." He said with a chuckle and shook his head a bit. "All right." He said, looking at Sam. "Guess this is it." It was really it. "I'm going to remember you just like this." Letting Sam think he wouldn't try to find him later. That the minute he was out of here he wasn't going into research mode. "You will always be my brother. Got that? I don't care how dark you think you are getting, or will become, you'll always be MY Sammy at least. And I'll love you for that."

"I love you too." He said, and his voice cracked and his eyes welled up once more. "I want to believe that I always will." He knew that wasn't going to be the case. That one day he wouldn't even have a physical form any longer. One day he would possess others and bring sorrow and heartache to the world around him. When that happened, he wouldn't be Sam any more. For that reason he hoped that he would never see his brother again after this day was done. "You were everything to me. You're my brother, my best friend, father, counselor, royal pain in my ass. " He tried to laugh with the last. "And my life is going to be way too quiet without you around." He said, as he stood at his brother's bedside, one hand in his, and the other pushing back his hair. He stood there quietly, watching as he drifted into unconsciousness. "Goodbye." He said softly and turned to leave the room. "He's sleeping. I'll be back in a few minutes with his things and ahm... his insurance stuff." He told the nurse as he passed the nurses' station.

Once outside he took a deep breath and looked at the nearby trees. "Now is as good a time as any." He said as he stepped into the shadows and focused on the warehouse and the Impala. When he emerged at the car's side he very nearly dropped to the floor gasping for breath. He swore as he leaned against Dean's Baby for a moment. "I seriously do not like that."

"You get used to it." Meg said, leaning against the beam she'd tied Dean to. Where his blood was clotted at her feet. "And here I thought it was just a rumor, or wishful thinking. Will wonders never cease? And our father seriously doubted that Dean was the way to go."

"So it was all your idea then... this whole seduction, kidnapping and torture scheme was your brain child?" He asked, feeling the anger well inside him. A human enough reaction seeing as how she was standing in his brother's blood. Blood that she had spilt. He wondered if he would ever not see his brother's mangled body in his sleep. If he would ever forget the sound of that flat line.

"Sammy, Sammy, Sammy, Sammy." Meg said as she walked around the beam, her hand tracing the lines of it as she walked. "You're not mad, are you? Thought you left all that pitiful humanity behind. But which are you more angry at? The fact of what happened to Dean? Or that I screwed him and merely possessed you? Such jealousy isn't becoming."

"The name is Sam." He said and picked her up with his mind, slamming her into the post with enough force to shake it and the roof it supported. "And don't make the mistake of thinking a little thing like giving up my soul is going to change anything where Dean is concerned." He said as he stepped forward and took her wrist looking for the tell tale burns of locking herself into the body. "No one touches my brother."

"Says the man who's going to kill him in the end." She said, laughing. "I didn't know you liked it rough. Better watch it, we are more or less family, aren't we? And you're so new to the game too." She knew what he was looking for, hers was on the small of her back. Where it wasn't easily seen. She'd learned from the last time.

"Now that depends on which game I am playing, doesn't it" He said with a dark smile. He began to speak the words from memory, as he had with the pizza delivery guy. He had memorized the ritual as a boy. That and several lovely prayers that tended to send demons into fits of one form or another.

"Stop! Stop!" She screamed at him as she covered her ears in a vain attempt to block it out. "You can't do this! You're one of us you son of a bitch! It's like cannabalism."

Sam grabbed her wrists, pulling her hands away from her ears. "You wanted a monster." He said in her ear. "You and your father taught me all about what it is to be a monster." He brought them up over her head. "But you see, you didn't create an ally. You created your own worst nightmare." He pressed against her, returning to the Rituale Romanum.

She writhed against the beam, someone passing by might have mistaken it for something far more sexual than it was. For she was crying, and screaming, and begging him to stop as her body contorted along with those holy words that cut her like a million knives.

"How many hours did you torture him, Meg?" He asked using the name he was most familiar with for her. He wasn't done, he was a long way from done. She had tortured his brother, and she had taken his hope from him. He would make her beg for hell's embrace.

"It doesn't matter! It doesn't matter! He's alive and we have to leave him alone!" Meg screamed tearfully. "He's alive, Sam! There's no reason for this! He's fine!" She struggled against him as she screamed.

"You don't understand vengeance, do you?" He said leaning in to whisper a sacred prayer in her ear as though it were a love poem. "If you wanted compassion you shouldn't have touched him. Shouldn't have set me on this path. Sucks doesn't it... having to pay for your transgressions?" He laughed a little then.

Meg was actually afraid of what stood before her. He wasn't a demon, not yet. And he wasn't human. "The body is human." She tried once more. "You'll punish her because you hate me so much?" He was a Winchester after all. Though...Dean had done away with the last girl she had inhabited...and he was human. He was a Winchester. Hopefully Sam was smarter.

"And that is supposed to stop me...why?" He asked. "You think my words are hurting her? They are comfort to a righteous soul... torture to the damned. Either way she is getting what she deserves. Even if it gets more physical...Better death at my hands than another day as your puppet. " He told her and pinned both of her wrists with one of his hands as the other removed the charm Bobby had given him, the charm to ward off possession, and slipped it over the girl's head, the silver pendant resting against her chest. He was tired of chanting.

She screamed, yelled, cried, writhed. This was more pain than when she had let her mortal body go so long ago. This was worse than the hellfire she had endured after she had been exorcised the last time. "You'll need puppets soon enough." She said, with nearly hysterical, pain tinged laughter as her knees gave out. She was upright only by Sam holding her wrists with his one hand, hard against the beam. "This is not what we signed you up for."

"We?" Sam asked. "There was no we." He told her. "Only your father, and I still have my free will, unlike you. Guess he really does like me best. I thought it was a line when he said I was his favorite. Guess it wasn't. So how long did you torture my brother, Meg? "

"An hour!" She screamed and he backhanded her. "All right, all right. Seven. Seven hours. Right here." That much was obvious, the ground was sticky beneath their feet from coagulated blood.

"Seven hours, plus another well... I'll be nice and call it an hour ... for the seduction. We have a long night ahead of us. Good thing you planned for somewhere that no one would investigate the screaming" he said as he let her slid to the floor. She wasnt going anywhere. The down side of the possession process was being limited by the body they were in. He wasnt as arrogant as he might appear, he knew that it was luck that had allowed him to get the drop on her. She had been right, he was new the game of demonic powers. But this he could have done with out any special abilities


	4. Chapter 4

Ben had avoided any and all questions from Jack about what he thought, what he knew. Because he didn't know for sure. Not yet. He would soon, but as of now, he didn't know. So he gave the kids money for the hotel and slid back to Texas, saying he had business to attend to at his club. And to call him if they needed him.

The hotel Kaylie and Jack had checked into was walking distance to the hospital. It was late, but it was well lit. Or maybe it was early morning, it was hard to tell. But the Impala was parked in front of the hospital, its shiny black metal body reflecting the street lights like a beacon.

"Isn't that Dean's?" Kaylie asked Jack, recognizing the car. And Dean had told her enough times (too many times) that there weren't many of them left. She also remembered Sam saying he'd taken Dean to the hospital in a rental.

Jack nodded. "Yeah. But Sam said he would bring it to him once things settled down." It had to be a good sign. Or at least he hoped it was a good sign, that the car was there. But he doubted that whatever the problem was that had Sam running away in the night would be resolved so easily. The middle Winchester seemed pretty selfish from where Jack stood. And if not selfish, then at least immature in how he handled things.

Jack had thought that it was to protect Dean, that Sam had taken off before. Part of him really wanted to believe that had been the case, but there had been something off with the man, the day before as they had watched Dean dying. A denial of it all on a level that creeped him out. The genuine shock on his face when Dean's heart had stopped. That wasnt just an 'oh god this is actually happening' look.

He peeked into the car and spotted a note on the seat, weighed down by a woman's earring, and he sighed, looking at Kaylie. "Bets?" He asked as he got into the car to pick up the note addressed to Dean, and the earring that held it down.

Kaylie looked at the note. "She wanted to go home," she read, "so I sent her there." She shivered. "That sounds...like way ominous. Okay, I'm freaked out. Are you freaked out? Because if Sam left a note, that means he's not in the hospital with Dean."

"Yeah..." Jack said his jaw clenching. "Let's go see how Dean is." He said, and headed inside. He would kill his brother if he ever found him again. This was worse than leaving the first time. How could he do that while Dean was still recovering. He got not wanting to be part of that life anymore but damn, he could at least grow up and handle it better.

The nurse just finished checking his dressings, while Dean distracted himself by looking at the menu. The doctor was now cautiously optimistic and willing to let him try a 'soft' diet. And no beer on the menu. "Hey." He said when Kaylie and Jack came in. His voice was hoarse and scratchy, but it was there. "Get this, I get room service. Shitty room service, but room service. Rumor is they're going to let me out of bed tonight."

"That's great." Jack said as he took a seat beside the bed. "So, when they let you out of here, how about I drive us all back to Texas for a while?" He didn't know if he should bring up the Sam situation yet. He didn't have details, and for all he knew the man could be crashed at a hotel somewhere, but he doubted it. He stared at the piece of paper trying to make the decision on what to do.

Dean looked at the paper in Jack's hand. "That from Sam? Hopefully he left it with my car, or no amount of sedatives will stop me from hunting his ass down." He said with an attempt at humor, t hough it didn't reach his eyes. He knew his brother was gone. He knew that last night as the drugs hit him.

"Ahm, yeah." Jack said handing over the note. "So he's taken off again?" He asked, wondering what was wrong with Sam's head that he didn't see what this was doing to Dean. It made no sense to him. But then Jack had never had a brother growing up. He didn't take it for granted now that he had one... two he supposed but he knew Sam about the way he knew his father. A few glimpses and his absence.

"Yeah." Dean said as he read the note. And he actually smiled at it, reading it on all levels. "Along with the normal crap that it's all for my own good, he actually said good bye this time." He balled up the paper around the earring and threw it in the trash.

"That made sense to you?" Jack asked indicating the note. "Freaked Kaylie out." He told him. "So what's his story on why this is for your own good?" Jack couldn't believe it. To him it came across that it was somehow Dean's fault that Sam was leaving. Something was wierd about the entire situation. He wanted to be mad at Sam and believe it was nothing but childish selfishness, but there was something about it that nagged at him.

"It should freak her out." Dean said. "Because she's not exactly a hunter. Sam found the demon that did this to me and made her beg to be sent back to hell." He said as he adjusted his position carefully in the bed. "It's a long story...well, actually it's not. Sam had a vision that he'd go dark side, like your mom, and end up killing me. Because we know me, can't leave anything alone. Well, he thinks he's already started going all dark, so he left so it didn't come down one of two ways. Him killing me, or me killing him. Course, he left me this majorly huge clue on how to track him, don't think he even realizes it yet."

"What clue is that?" Jack asked, not sure what it was that would be easier to track now than before. Although he did have to grudgingly let some of his anger at Sam go. He didn't agree with his choice but he understood it now.

"He's going to take down as many of those evil sons of bitches as he can before he finally crosses over. All I gotta do is just watch the signs, and then pull him back before he's lost." Dean said, still confident he cou ld do it. Just not right now. And he had no guilt over calling the demonic evil sons of bitches. He'd earned that right at least to call nephalim who went dark that. He didn't see the hypocracy in that. Because Sam was Sam. And always would be.

"How do you plan to pull him back?" He wasn't sure there was a way to do that. "I mean if it were that simple my mom would still be here, and you probably would have fewer scars right now." He didn't want to crush Dean's hopes but he didn't want to have him hurt again either. Next time it could be Sam that tied Dean to a post and tortured him almost to death.

"You and your mom and me and Sam are two completely different situations. Trust me." Dean said. "You were way too young to fight for it, not your fault. I have a shot, and I'll be taking it. So major research mode for me. Which Ben will NOT be comfortable with, trust me." He was seriously thinking of just recovering on the road.

"Why wouldn't he be comfortable with you trying to save your brother?" Jack asked. "Besides, you are not going to be up to driving anytime soon. End of discussion. you can either stay with me or in a hotel in Corpus Christi but you are not driving off to chase after him until you are healed."

"You know, maybe we should table this one until he's released." Kaylie offered.

"Okay, so you're a smart blonde." Dean said with a chuckle. "Jury's still out on whether or not you can spell though. Chances I'll be released legally aren't that great. Too easy to be found here." Wouldn't be the first time he checked himself out AMA.

"Says the not so smart blonde. Checking yourself out before you are ready and then taking off down the highway isn't a good idea." Jack said and fished out his cell phone to call in the big guns and settle it once and for all.

He was calling Ben.

Kaylie hid a grin, she knew what Jack was doing as she gestured for Dean to move over so she could sit on the side of the bed. "So let's see this menu. Ooh, jello. I have a rule about jello. Stay away from the green stuff." She said.

"Yeah, their idea of a soft diet is baby food. Don't suppose you could smuggle me in something? Would hate for me to have to break out just for a sub." Dean said with a grin.

Ben was in his club, when his cell rang he ducked into his office. "What's up Jack?" He said, recognizing Jack's ringtone on his phone.

"Couple things, mostly just updates." He said and filled him in on Dean's condition and Sam's latest disappearance and excuses. "So, Dean isn't going to be able to stay here much longer, all things being equal." Like demons coming for him and the government once the swelling in his face went down enough for him to be recognizable as himself to strangers. "Thinking about bringing him home like a stray. What do you think?"

"Last stray you brought home I made you keep in the shed." Ben said dryly. Though Jack did have a point. "You asking me or you asking me to convince him?"

"Both actually." Jack said. "And the shed is out. I'm not rousting the spiders out of there. They are evil and outnumber me."

Ben laughed. "Fine. But I'm not turning down the heat." Ben said. Yes, in Texas, he had the heat on year round. Jack had adjusted quite nicely. "When he's ready to leave, call me and I'll pack him up. I know a thing or two about handling boys who think they know better than adults."

Jack laughed in turn. "Sounds good. I will call you when he's ready to go. " He said his good byes and hung up the phone looking at Dean with a smug amusement. "Well that solves that problem. and just think, it won't be as cold at my place as it is here."

"Dude, you're a brat." Dean said, making a face. "How about you go get me a sub? Make it up to me for making me shack up with a demon." Because dammit he was hungry and he'd use the low reasons to get real food. "I promise, Kaylie's safe. I'm as harmless as a declawed kitten right now, with the sedatives, and tubes and bandages..." he said with a bit of a smirk.

"Man, and I was going to take advantage." Kaylie joked.

"Good luck with that, honey." Jack told her with a smile. "As for you, they are feeding you baby food for a reason. I don't want to bring you real food and have it tear something up in there. Sorry. No go."

"This sucks. They won't even give me beer, I'm pissing into a bucket, the nurses are all over 50, and they're going to feed me strained peas for dinner." Dean grumbled. "It was completely worth living...why?"

"Because if you die, there will never be steak and beer again, and no one will be around to be my best man or chase down Sam." Jack said with a shrug. "But hey, if strained peas are a fate worse than death... you can always hope that what's her name drowns in them in hell."

"Why do you have to be so reasonable?" Dean asked with a chuckle.

"It's a natural charm." Kaylie said with a grin and kissed Jack's cheek.

"Fine, I'll live. Just for the bachelor party. Which Sam will be there for." Dean said confidently. Because he knew his 'mission' in life, even if the others, everyone else in fact, told him it wasn't. Protect Sammy. Save Sammy. Somehow. Some when. He wasn't giving up on that, or Sam.

"I'm reasonable because I was raised an only child." He said. "And my temper tantrums were dealt with by a flaming demon. " Not that Ben had ever lost his temper with him, really. Because of him yes, at him no.

"Hey, I was an only child once. For four years." Dean said with a chuckle. "That's gotta count for something, right? Fine, strained peas, no hot nurses, recuperating with a fire demon...he better not have that whole rule on no co ed sleep overs."

"Highly unlikely." Kaylie said with a laugh.

The next few days seemed to drag by, but as Dean's features returned to normal, and the staff started to pay more attention to him, Jack became more worried. "Maybe it's time to go ahead and bust you out of here. Any ideas how to do that with the glass walls we got going on here?"

"Easy. I'm allowed to walk around. They're encouraging it. So I get up, pay off a tech to wear my heart leads...and walk out." Dean said with a shrug, carefully getting out of bed. "Kaylie, take the stuff down to the car, tell them it's laundry or something if they ask. Jack, flirt with a nurse."

"You are too good at this." Jack said shaking his head, then kissed Kaylie. "Don't kill me honey, she doesn't mean a thing." He said, waggling his eyebrows as he headed out into the hall and over toward the nurses' station to perform his brotherly duty.

Kaylie laughed and gathered up Dean's stuff as Dean found his boots and pulled them on. Looked pretty ridiculous with a hospital gown, but it was hopefully temporary. Then he paid off a tech, got the key to the med room, took dressing supplies and antibiotics (he had enough pain killers in the trunk) and carefully transferred his leads from his chest to the tech's chest, grabbing a pair of scrubs. Then he hopped on the elevator and headed down to the car, where Kaylie was fixing up the back seat with pillows and blankets.

"God, you're needy." He teased her.

"This is where you're going." She informed him.

"That's my girl." Jack said as he caught up with them. "And if you behave, I will let you pick the music even if I am the driver." He told his brother. "Do you have enough pain killers in your system? Anything we need on the way out of town?" He asked, opening the driver's side door to get in.

Dean stood there in shock. "Whoa, wait. Excuse me? Um, who's driving? Back away from the door. I mean it, bro." Dean said, heading over to the driver's side. "Keys." He said, holding out his hand.

"You are wounded, under the influence, and had a hard time standing. Not a chance. Either you stretch out in the back seat or you get to ride home with Ben. Come on... I have driven her before. I'll take care of your baby, now lay down already so we can get the hell out of here."

"The longer we stand here, the more likely it is we're caught." Kaylie pointed out, claiming the passenger side. "Or, more correctly, you're caught. I see four point restraints in your future without any of the possibly fun side benefits."

Dean grumbled and growled and crawled into the back seat. It was easier to lay down than stand. He was sure it would have been just as easy to sit though. "Fine." He muttered. "Don't let her pick the music!"

"Nah, I will save that for when you are really bad." He told Dean as he started the Impala. "She likes Kelly Clarkson. I think you have that CD with you, don't you baby?" He asked her with a wink. "Four point restraints huh?"

"I want to look at her, not listen to her." Dean grumbled.

"Oh, Kelly Clarkson, Gwen Stefani, even have some Cher and Bette Midler." Kaylie said with a grin. "And four point restraints. So completely amazing how they just kinda leave them laying around in a hospital."

"Not listening!" Dean said. "Not in my car! Especially not while he's driving!"

Jack laughed. "You nicked four point restraints? Damn, I knew there was a reason I love you. He's behaving. We'll save the chick music until he gets uncooperative again. For now," he said as he picked up a tape from Dean's box at random, "we'll start with this." He put it in and pulled out of the parking lot and toward the back roads.

"Megadeath?" Kaylie said dubiously. "Never heard of them."

"That's it." Dean said from the back. "She goes. She has to walk." He was half joking at any rate. "How far is it to Texas?"

"Oh, only about three days." Kaylie said with a laugh as she passed him back a soda to take his antibiotics with.

"Look at it as expanding her horizons." Jack suggested. He did his best to keep things comfortable for his brother. He knew it wasn't the best of situations, and that Dean should have been in the hospital for another week at least. It made him nervous. He worried that this was a big mistake, but not so big a mistake as letting Dean be recognized.

He was wearing a new face this time, unrecognizable to Sam, even if the voice was familiar. Not that it was John's, but the undercurrent his voice (the demon's) had always contained was there.

"Distressing times." He said, walking into Sam's hotel room. "When one turns on his own."

"Yeah, that's what I've heard." Sam said as he twisted the top off of a beer and propped himself up against the head board of the bed, and started flipping through the channels. "Is this where you start trying to rearrange our little bargain?" He asked, not bothering to keep the hatred out of his tone. Meg had done all the planning and hard work when it came to torturing his brother, but Sam hadn't forgotten who was on the other end of the phone when he called.

"My boy, you need to think about the path you're on." He said, standing at the foot of the bed, deliberately blocking the television. "Because you are not invincible." Case in point, mere human Dean had killed two of his children. Certainly one was with the Colt, but still. He needed Samuel for other plans that were just beginning to form. "You cannot be a demon and a demon hunter. That's not the way this works."

"And once I become a demon, that will actually mean something." Sam said locking gazes with the creature calling himself his father these days. "In the mean time I am merely the demonic INS." He wasn't afraid. What was the son of a bitch going to do? Kill him? He couldn't get that lucky. "Meg sending any postcards from home?" He asked with a faint smile. He should be worried that he actually had fond thoughts of torturing her. But she had touched Dean.

"Demonic INS. That's cute." He said. "You left your brother behind, a nd still feel the need for vengeance? That's awfully petty. Even for us, don't you think?" He picked Sam up and slammed him against the wall. "You are not on the bright and shiny side of life anymore. The sooner you accept that, the easier it goes."

Sam groaned as he hit the wall. "I never was." He said honestly. "Faked it for a few years but that's all it was. As for Dean, I took care of it all in the day you gave me. Even managed to get the car to the hospital before midnight. Haven't looked back. But I warned you... that I wasn't going to be your pawn just because I let you twist what ever is inside me. I wouldn't even bet on my allegeance when I become a demon. It's not petty... it's the damned Winchester genetics." He laughed. "Vengeance is hardwired in place."

"Do not think you can stand against me." He growled. "You may be special, you may be gifted. But I'm stronger. There are ways to hit you where it hurts without breaking our deal. Remember that."

"And I can still die." Sam said with a shrug. "You can't touch Dean, and I don't think even you want to deal with Ben, so going after Jack is out, although to be honest I would kinda like to see that battle. You granted me free will, remember. Part of our bargain... as long as I leave my brother and never look back I could do as I damned well pleased in all other things. So back off or fucking kill me already cause those are your only two options."

Ben, he was the kicker. A thorn in his side, and one he would like removed from any sphere of influence. The Winchesters had succeeded in sending his children to hell, but Ben had been the one to be able to fight a child like his, and walk away. Hale and hardy. His involvement in the Winchesters' lives was a danger, with what that demon knew.

But that was a problem for another day, and not even one that could be solved easily.

"I have more than two options." He said to Sam. "And I will be watching, taking notes, waiting."

"Waiting for what? Me to cross over and be a lesser demon so you can beat me into submission? Waiting for me to actually give a damn about someone else that you can actually get to again? Don't hold your breath on that one. I learned that lesson back in the cabin. " He couldn't help but push. He wanted the bastard to end it all now. What was hell now vs hell later? It's where his soul was going in dribbles and drips anyway.

The demon released him and backed away, still smiling. "Careful, Samuel. There are worse things than death. There are even worse things than hell. You don't want to find them out."

"You've been teaching me that every day of my life." Sam accused, but the tone was resigned. He had given in, after all. He had chosen damnation, the utter obliteration of who and what he was, over being the survivor once more. The guilt he carried around with him over the death of his parents and Jessica, over the sacrifices Dean had been forced to make over the years, that was almost more than he was able to bear as it was. Dean suffering and dying would have driven him completely mad with it. "Get out."

He smiled and patted Sam's cheek. "Oh you're going to be something remarkable when this is all over." He promised. "It will be such a joy to see." Then he walked out.

Sam downed the beer in one drink, then picked up the computer, begining to look for the signs once more. Needing to prove that he wasn't evil, that he wasn't a demon yet. Maybe earn a little peace for the soul that was leeching away. He scribbled notes in a notebook, looking over previous notes following the trail. It was near by. He had a feeling about that before ole yellow eyes showed up. He took the surprise visit as proof that he was right.

The demon roared. This wasn't a possessed demon. This was a demon. And it didn't appreciate Sam Winchester trying to 'help' it, or himself.

"You think you can beat me?" It sneered as it tossed Sam across the room. It was trapped, it couldn't leave. But oh the damage it could do in the meantime.

Sam was exhausted. He had been fighting this thing for days. He had never encountered anything this strong before, and he was starting to have doubts that he was going to be able exorcise the demon from its host. Not that doubts were going to stop him. Exorcists died during exorcisms. He was begining to understand why, and he was beginning to have hope. A twisted hope, but hope none the less. He picked himself up off of the floor, stifling the groan of pain. He raised his voice once more, to begin the ritual again. He would do it as often as he had to. He wasn't going to let another demon win.

The demon laughed, but quickly stopped laughing, and started to scream in pain when a voice cut through the chaos. Accented, and speaking a latin far older than even Sam knew. The aged man, in clerical robes, and a worn tweed coat thrown over it, stepped forward slowly, as if fighting a great wind. He tossed off his hat and kept speaking as the demon tried to scream over him.

The old man spoke softly, but firmly, never taking his eyes off the demon until it exploded. Then he brushed himself off and offered his hand to Sam. "Father Pavel." He introduced himself. "I see you've been making a mess of things. Did you have any idea what you were doing?"

Sam's eyes widened, and he half expected the man to turn his incantations on him. But he took his hand. "Ahm...Sam... Sam Winchester. I was performing an exorcism... I've been doing them since I was... I guess 13 the first time." He suddenly felt as though he were standing before his father and he was 5, having been caught playing with firearms.

"An exorcism?" Father Pavel said, surprised. "Son, that wasn't a possessed human." He shook his head. "We have much to discuss I see." He said with a sigh and took off his coat, carefully taking off his cassock and folding it oh so carefully and placing it in his small tattered suitcase. He put his coat on, and his hat. "Come, this old man could use some tea. I think your American coffeehouses have been selling tea?"

"Ahm... yes sir..." He said looking back at the devil's trap. "I didn't realize so many were out passing as human... isn't that rare?" He moved to pick up the man's suitcase for him. Not that he thought he was fragile. Even as ancient as he appeared the man was anything but fragile. It was out of respect.

Father Pavel tabled the discussion until they were in a corner table in a mostly empty coffeehouse. He ordered tea, and drank a few sips of it iwth pleasure before turning to Sam. "Not as rare as one might think. Not as rare as you think, though you should certainly know better. No, creatures from hell come in all different packages. Just the ones that possess humans...they tend to be the most visible, make the most noise."

Sam paled. "How is it I should know better?" He asked. This man couldn't possibly know what he was. Could he? Was it that obvious now? No one seemed to know before. He had been in the company of priests frequently. None of them had noticed anything odd about him. "Because I grew up with this? My dad learned as he went. I guess we missed a few things along the way."

"Hunters, always in for the kill. But you do your part." Father Pavel said. "Even as you paint a bull's eye on your back. Or is that the point? That the bull's eye is there, and maybe someone will hit it?" He looked at the young man in front of him, the one with the sad eyes. "I've come across many hunters in my years as a priest. Rarely do they ask for help, even when they should."

"It wasn't about the kill." Sam said. "It was something else." He wasn't sure that it wasn't about the kill now. Maybe it was about the bull's eye. Maybe he wanted to take on the biggest and most evil so that they would kill him before he could join them. Maybe he had made the wrong deal with the demon. Maybe he should have rearranged history, brought his parents back, left Dean with the memories of a happy life as an only child. But he hadn't thought it through. Hadn't planned. Had just wanted his brother to live another day. "Believe it or not it's... it was always been about helping people."

"Oh I don't doubt that." Father Pavel said. "Sometimes I'm not very clear. Hazard of English not being my first language." Or his third for that matter. "It was about helping people? As in now it's not? And that's where you will fail, child."

"I dont know what it is now." Sam said honestly. "Too many other things involved or me to know anything anymore." Too much pain, too much guilt, too much anger and loneliness. How could he really claim to be one of the good guys anymore? He wasn't even human. All he could do was take steps to not be one of the bad guys until there was no choice.

Father Pavel nodded and finished his tea, wiping his mouth with his napkin, then folding the napkin carefully into the tea cup. Every movement of his was deliberate and precise, no wasted movement. "Come." He said, standing up and putting his hat on. "We will walk. It's a very nice night out, even for old bones."

Sam got up and walked with the father, carrying his coffee with him. "How do you tell the difference?" Sam asked "Between a demon with physical manifestation and one that is possessing a host?" Better to turn it into a professional conversation before it turned into confession. Sam didn't have the faith he once had. He hadn't prayed once since the hospital in Chicago. Canting a latin prayer didn't count. It was just words. Words that hurt the demons almost as much as the demons had hurt him.

"With this." Father Pavel said, poking Sam in the chest. "The mind can be decieved, the senses thwarted, but not the heart. I don't suppose if I told you this was highly dangerous, you would stop?" Because he was required to say that. The Catholic Church thought they should have a monopoly on demon fighting, Father Pavel knew better. The war would take all the willing participants it could get to even make a dent. But sending a young boy off to his death because his father had taught him wasn't smart either.

"No." He said. "I ahm... It's not that I don't care that it's dangerous... I just... I'm going to do what I am doing with or with out additional training. It's what I am." For now. For as long as he could make it work... as long as he could hold onto his soul. "What ahm... what is your heart telling you about me?" Sam asked.

"That you're not lost. That your soul can be saved." Father Pavel said as he walked. "That to save a soul takes as long as to lose one. One never loses one's soul in a blink, that's a myth to scare the little ones. You can give pieces away, you can sacrifice parts of it, but you can't hold it out whole for someone to take."

"I'm not human, you know." He said softly. "I don't know how this whole soul thing works for something like me." He knew that it was a down hill slide, that it would get harder as time passed. "I just don't want to go down gently. I didn't agree to laying down and waiting."

"You have one." Father Pavel said. "And some day, if you lose it, you will fear me." Strange image, since the elderly priest with his hunched shoulders and shuffling gait, didn't even come up to Sam's shoulder. "But you have one, or you wouldn't have had it to bargain with in the first place. Strange, that bargaining. God gave his finest creations, humans, free will. Makes us very dangerous adversaries to all that is dark and evil. You are still human, child. If nothing else, the bruises on your face should be a reminder of that."

"I've bruised monsters.. made them bleed... but I'm ... my father was... well... he ... was possessed when I was concieved. It's not just the deal I made. Wow... you can sense that I made the bargain... I didn't do it to gain anything for myself... It wasn't for me." He felt the need to say. He knew that it sort of was, because he couldn't live with the thought of Dean dying for his sake, but it was different too.

"That guilt, that remorse you feel over the bargain, not over the bargain itself, but what you lost because of it, that is why are you human. Hold onto that as long as possible." Father Pavel said. "You are a nephilim, and even you don't know what that is. That is sad. You've signed yourself off, and don't even know why."

"It's the child of a possessed man." Sam said. "My ahm... my brother and I were terrorized by one when we were children. Watched her slide from almost completely human to nothing but shadows intent on torturing my brother to death when he... he was just a 16 year old boy. Just to hurt my father...I've seen what they do... I found texts that say they ... we... are the reason the flood happened... Noah was chosen because there was no demonic blood in him. I haven't exactly seen anything to give me a positive view on what I am."

"If you are going to base opinions on ancient texts, you must read them all." Father Pavel said. "Because they really are nothing more than diaries of the times, passed down for us to learn from. Further research would have shown that God flooded the earth because the children of his fallen were enslaving men. In fact, often eating them. And though Noah's bloodline was presumably human, no one has ever vouched for his daughters in law. When thrown out of heaven, not all of Lucifer's friends followed him to hell, some stayed where they fell, on Earth, finding great joy around them in mankind. For so long there was peaceful co existance, and interbreeding. Then they took on attributes all too human. Arrogance. Conceit. The lust for power. That was their undoing. You were terrorized by one. My child, I am sorry for that, but humans often do the same thing. The difference being nephilim have other abilities that make it seem so much worse. Yes, there are monsters. But even you should know not all of them are not human."

"I know. Encountered the human monsters a time or two. For all of that, a lot of the spirits we put to rest were created by human monsters." He said. "One of the fallen... the one that tainted my conception... has plans for me. He's killed or tortured everyone I have ever loved to bring me to this point. I know he wins eventually... the visions are pretty clear on that one." His eyes misted as he thought of the future that awaited him. That he had saved his brother's life only to take it later. When he became a worse monster than any they had fought.

"Do you have faith?" The priest asked as he stopped by a bench to rest. "It's important to have faith. I have faith, that's why I am alive, while every other priest I've worked with is dead. Heart attacks, strokes, lack of faith." Even a split second of lack of faith could cost an exorcist his life. "Do you have any?"

"I used to." He said honestly. "But I haven't been able to bring myself to pray since the vision. It's been hard since, well, I thought I saw an Angel once... it was the spirit of a murdered priest that thought he was an angel. " Sam shook his head. " Will God even hear my prayers now?"

"Faith and prayer are two different things." Father Pavel said. "Faith is a belief in a higher power than yourself, someone you can fall back on. Prayer is a conversation. Sometimes it seems onesided, but God is always listening. His answers might not be where and when and what you expect, but he does answer. There are miracles all around, they just get overlooked. Everyone expects a burning bush, or the seas to part, or Lazarus to rise from the dead. God usually works in a much more subtle way. Whether or not you choose to talk to God is a personal choice. As is whether or not you choose to put your fate in the hands of something good and righteous, and trust in that. But what you plan to do, child, you cannot do it alone. You will need faith, or you will fail. You won't just fail yourself, you'll fail those very people you're trying to save."

"I believe." Sam said. "Not sure about all the dogma that goes with that belief, but I can't look a fallen angel in his beady yellow eyes and not believe that there is a hell, and if there is a hell then there must be a heaven, and thus God. I'm pretty angry with him right now, but," shrug, "doesn't mean I don't believe." Sam had a hard time not being angry. His own choices were his own. The lumps taken being a hunter were a natural consequence of his choices. But his father being possessed wasn't anyone's choice. The fact that John Winchester was being tormented in hell for sacrificing himself for his son's life was pretty high on the list of things to be angry about as well. He knew on one level that all that he had to be angry about lay at the yellow eyed demon's feet, but God had allowed that kind of evil in the world to begin with and Sam felt pretty much abandoned in the fight against it.

"It's all right to be angry with him. I get angry with him myself." Father Pavel said. "Two years ago I was in Venezuela, exorcising a demon from a little four year old. No child deserves that, the possession or the exorcism. I was angry, heated. I used that anger against the demon. That's the trick."

"Yeah but I kinda feel like I'm out here on the front lines alone." He said. "I know God answers in his own way in his own time. But it's hard to stay the course when the wolf is howling at my door and God says sorry, not now, and the only angels I see are of the fallen variety. Not that I am asking to see one but... well you know what I mean."

"If you saw a holy angel, you wouldn't be able to comprehend his visage." Father Pavel said. "So count yourself lucky that you haven't seen one. There are lesser miracles you can look for, to affirm God's existance and presence if you need to. Like...that tree over there. Or the sunrise. Always overlooked, but no less miraculous."

"I guess I haven't gotten to that point of grateful yet." Sam admitted. "Which I suppose sounds like a spoiled child complaining that having everything still isn't enough. I'm just tired." He said. Tired of running, tired of watching the bad guys win. Like a child he was tired of the unfairness of it. That his family would lose everything to the darkness they fought so hard against only to find themselves tormented in hell for thier troubles after death. "Probably be less whiny in the morning."

"Perhaps." Father Pavel said and handed him a business card. "This has my cellular phone number. The Church likes to keep in touch with me. You will call me in the morning. I will try and teach you what I know. The Church has been good to me, but has not sent me anyone to instruct in quite a while."

Sam took the card in hand and looked it over with wide eyes. "Thank you." He said in all sincerity. "I will speak with you then. Do ahm... do you need a ride back to where ever it is you are staying?" He asked, seeing that his truck wasn't far in the distance.

"No, no. I will walk. Is good for the lungs." Father Pavel said. "May you have pleasant sleep, Samuel Winchester. And watch the sunrise in the morning, if you please."

"I will try to be awake." He said. "Good night, sir." He started walking toward the truck, wondering what sort of ripples were being set into motion from this chance meeting. It was chance wasn't it? Or was it? Did a man of God really just walk into the same exorcism Sam was failing at, by chance ? He wanted to believe that it might be an answer to one of those long forgotten prayers. But that kind of belief came hard now.

He drove back to the hotel and lay the lines of salt and brick once more. It wouldn't keep the big bads out he had discovered but it would keep the little ones at bay, and they were the ones he worried about at the moment. He leaned back against the head board of the bed and stared at the blank TV screen, letting his mind wander.

Ben looked at Jack. "You have to do something. He's YOUR brother." He said.

Dean's recovery had been hard, and it still wasn't over. All he had been was pulled back from the brink of death, and that wasn't a small feat in itself. But it left a lot of damage to let nature fix. And Dean never did well when he wasn't 100.

Add to that, the fact that Sam was out there somewhere. Going through something monumental, by choice, and there wasn't anything he could do about it. So he did what he did best when he was blocking out pain of all sorts.

He fixed cars.

So far, he'd changed the transmission on the Impala, Jack's car, Ben's car, and even Kaylie's car. Changed brakes. Changed the oil. Repaired the dings and rust in Jack's car until it was nearly mint condition. It would never be as cool as the Impala, but it was better.

All the while saying he was fine.

"Next he's going to start assaulting the cars of our neighbors." Ben said, looking out the window at Dean. Or Dean's legs, as he was buried under Kaylie's car repairing a fuel line. Because Kaylie, as stubborn and strong as she was in her own right, didn't stand a chance against Dean when he set his mind to something. Not any more than she stood a chance against Jack. She could see the family resemblance quite clearly then.

"It's how he copes." Jack said. "There are worse things he could do. I mean... look at the cars... they are shiny, happy, functional cars. Was thinking of going and getting a dead classic from the junk yard to give him something to do that won't keep us from having something to drive. He'll think I am coming around to his way of thinking about cars. He doesn't understand Sophie." Jack sighed. "If we try and get him to lay down and recover like a normal human being it would be like getting you to hang out in a walk in freezer. "

"You are coming over to his way of thinking. You just described the cars as happy." Ben said, shaking his head. "I don't think he's coping. It's busy work, to keep him distracted. Because if he's too concerned with trying not to cut his fingers off, he doesn't have to think about anything else. Most people, they just drink. Me, I drink."

"Would you rather he lock himself in a dark room and cut himself, while listening to Sarah McLachlan?" Kaylie asked as she wrote her essay for her lit class. Since she was, at the moment, car-less.

"Is that a viable choice?" Ben asked with a quirked eyebrow.

Jack rolled his eyes. "I will go talk to him, but he isn't going to stop. If we push too hard he will get back in the Impala and drive away. Personally I would rather get a junk yard car for him to work on. After all, his other outlet is hunting. " He pointed out. "And that's how we got into this mess in the first place." He headed out the door to speak to his brother. "So..." he said going over to Kaylie's car and addressing the legs. "What else did you find in there that wasn't mint condition?"

"The undercarriage is starting to rust." Came the voice under the car. "Muffler's only got a couple hundred miles left on it. Should replace the power steering pump while I'm at it." He rolled himself out from under the car and wiped the sweat off his forehead with his forearm, reaching for the rag to wipe his hands off with. "Why? Is she bugging out over the whole no car thing?" He asked with a grin. "I mean, I can let it go. You know, let her undercarriage drop out from under her, have no power steering during a storm or high winds...fuel line could explode...up to you, dude."

"Is it really that bad, or are you that desperate for something to fix?" He asked honestly. "Honestly, it's not Kaylie, it's weirding Ben out." He said with a laugh. "Not last straw weirding out, but he is afraid you are going to start molesting the neighbors' cars." He could understand that it was hard for him. He wasn't physically able to get back out and hunt, wasn't finding any evidence of Sam out there. It was hard for Dean and he knew that. He had lost family, he knew. Ben did too, and Jack figured that was why it was bothering him. It was his way of worrying about Dean.

"Fine. She's not riding around in a death trap. A highly flammable, easily crushable box of Japanese plastic, sure. Not a death trap." Dean allowed and got up, slower than he would have liked, and drank his water. He was even watched on his beer consumption. "I should rob her of her car for a while though. You two dope me up to the gills, I wake up and she's driving my car." He looked across the street. "Well, there are worse things in life than being known as the neighborhood auto molester. Especially that guy, that car is loud in a bad way."

"Isn't that the natural state of being for a box of Japanese plastic?" Jack asked with a smile. "And she and your car get along fine. Look... we're just worried about you, is all. I know this is busy work... something to keep your mind off of things. Can't say I blame you honestly. Just worried that you are gonna implode at some point."

"Dude, I'm fine. Really." Dean said with a bit of a laugh. "Nothing to worry about, just trying to be helpful, you know, before I wear out my welcome and all. I mean, I am living with a demon, and I think if I turn the thermostat down one more time, he's going to flambe me. Seriously, it's cooler outside."

"Are you sure you aren't hurting yourself out here? " Which was really his only concern. If he was hurting himself physically or emotionally with all this avoidance. But he didn't think pressing Dean would help. He would open up when the time came.

Dean shrugged. Carefully, but he shrugged. "I'm fine." He said. "When my mom died, that was the first time Dad taught me how to replace a brake line. When Sammy left for college, I replaced the fuel line. When Dad died...well, I had to rebuilt the whole frigging thing, I don't know, cars are easier. They're...they're something I can do. Something I can fix. Since I can't fix anything else. You know? But I'm fine. No imploding. I'm good."

He really wanted to take a crowbar to the hood, see how plexi glass stood up, but he didn't.

"Cool. Then let's get in your car and head over to the junk yard.. there is something over there screaming to be rebuilt, and I need to talk to someone about something before I do it... and it can't be Ben. Yet."

Dean raised an eyebrow, but cleaned his hands off with that gunk guaranteed to take grease off hands without soap and water. Worked well enough, even if it smelled like turpentine. "Everyone's getting pretty sick of their cars always up on ramps, huh?" He said with a chuckle as he got his keys out. "But I'm game." He popped his head inside the house. "Everyone's cars are perfectly drivable. You're welcome."

Jack laughed at that as he headed for the Impala. Driving would be good for Dean anyway, and he was thinking of changing his life plans. He wasn't sure Ben would approve, so he figured he would bounce it off of Dean first. Besides, Dean was in serious need of stretching his big brother legs. That was painfully obvious. He wasn't Sam, but he was what Dean had. Might as well give him the occasional work out.

"So what useless wreck do I get to turn into a masterpiece?" Dean said with a chuckle as he pulled out of the driveway and started toward the junk yard. "Do I even want to know what you can't talk to Ben about?" Jack and Ben were close, Dean could understand that, Ben had raised him after all. Been there when neither of his parents were, or Dean for that matter. And Dean grudgingly liked the guy, figured if Dad could work with him, he couldn't be THAT bad. And he hadn't done anything worth hunting him over (except fire the really cute stripper).

"I have caught the Winchester Hero fixation. Trying to decide between police or fire department... you can imagine how well either of those will go over with him. Not only do they let me start a career sooner, but that means I can officially ask Kaylie to marry me sooner... move out of his house sooner... Alot of reasons that he won't like the conversation."

Dean let out a low whistle. "Okay, gotta talk you out of the cop thing. I mean, you get sworn in, you're legally obligated to arrest me on sight, you know that, right?" Dean said. "I can see why Ben would be against the whole fire department thing, he's a walking fire hazard. I don't know, anything else you're interested in? Gotta say, we're each against one of your options so far."

"Paramedic sounded interesting. But damn you would be a full time job alone." He teased. "And legally obligated or not ... wouldn't do it. You didn't do anything." Well he had, credit card fraud, grave site desecration, any number of laws he had broken in the pursuit of evil but he could hardly hold that against Dean.

"And honestly, Kaylie might have an easier time sleeping." Dean said with a laugh. "Come on, remember how freaked she was when you took off with me? Now imagine being in an occupation where you have to carry a gun and wear a bullet proof vest, or run head first into a burning building. So you're really gonna marry her, huh?"

"If she says yes, yeah. I haven't asked yet, unless you count once in junior high." He said with a laugh. "She said maybe. Yeah, perhaps paramedic is a better choice. Either way I go, the pay is crap. No one wants to compensate heroes in this country."

"Course not. Then everyone would do it." Dean said with a laugh. "So you want me to stand by with the fire extinguisher when you tell Ben? Think he's got his little demonic heart set on you taking over the strip club or something."

"Who says I can't do both?" Jack said with a laugh. "It's not like he is going to get old and die on me sometime. I'm the one that's going to get old and die on him... gonna have to make him promise to stick around and watch my children grow up. That's a seriously suicidal demon...if he knew a way that would work anyway."

"Dude, what's up with that anyway?" Dean asked. "Because if I hear him one more time wish for a way to off himself, I'm gonna find that way. You know, pay him back properly for letting me crash at his place and all."

"When I was little, he had a wife. I was 3 when I met them and I thought she was his mom. I guess the long and the short of it is that she died of old age and he is having a hard time living without her. He worries about where her soul went because she had been with him for so long and loved him." Jack said with a sigh. "He was drunk off his ass and talking to her picture when I found that out. Anniversary of her death or their wedding or something like that. "

"Wow." Dean said. He never would have expected that. But he'd run into Ben after the demon had immersed himself in a dozen or so years of grieving. He remembered what that had done to John. And this revelation made Ben seem all the more human, and a whole lot less demonic. "I had a girl...once. For a while. Had to leave, a job with dad, he needed my help with it, she thought I was lying, dumped me on my ass after calling me every name in the book. Her name was Cassie. Could be a big reason why I run like hell from anything more enduring than a one night stand. And Dad...after my mom...completely different man. Sam and Jess..." He sighed. "You gotta be the one to break the cycle dude, or we're all going to be miserable old men passing ourselves off as suicidal Ben's miserable great uncles or something."

He laughed a little. "That's the plan. But you can get over it and move on you know. Cause eventually you are going to have a body that won't take anymore punishment. You may as well settle down and set up the next generation of mechanics at that point." He knew that Dean wouldn't raise his children to be hunters. Maybe to know how but surely he wouldn't set them down that path of heartache and loneliness. "But you probably have another...oh... 5 or 6 near death experiences in you before then."

"Got a lot to do first." Dean said. "First thing, get myself off the FBI's list. Somehow. Still working on that. Find, Save, and Fix Sammy. Save the world a couple more times. And get all nieces and nephews flying high on sugar, before returning them to their parents right before they vomit. Because I am an awesome big brother."

"Yeah that FBI thing is the hard one." He said. "Well that and Fixing Sam. Find and Save might be hard but fixing him ... that's gonna take major drugs, a lot of sex and probably electroshock therapy. Maybe the FBI thing is the easy one."

"Eh, life isn't easy. If it was, it would be boring. Then I would have the accountant job with the two kids, a dog and two car garage." Dean said with a laugh. "I don't know, bro, I come from Kansas. Had my family not been put square in the middle of a demon's sights, god, I'd be Joe Boring right now. Then again, you wouldn't be here. So guess life works in hard, confusing ways that eventually make sense. Or someone spiked my coffee with drugs again."

"Dean... I'm Joe Average. Yeah I was raised by a demon and my parents were... well bigger than life is an understatement... But I am Joe Average and my life isn't boring. It's not overly exciting most days but it's not boring. Hell you could make a small fortune as a mechanic. Not too many people do that quality of work with out a huge over head."

Dean laughed. "Dude, your mother was a nephilim, our father was a bad ass hunter, your guardian is a demon who owns a strip club. Your oldest brother is number seven on America's Most Wanted List, and your other brother thinks he's going to become the next anti christ. Your girlfriend is majorly hot and way too good for you. That equals boring...how?" Dean said, still laughing.

Jack raised an eyebrow. "I go to classes, work a part time job, go out with my highschool sweetheart. My hobbies? Swimming, computer games, and reading. Man, I am normal and non exciting. Like I said not boring but not majorly exciting or anything. I like it though. I really do like my life. "

Dean laughed. "Anyone who gets a lap dance before the age of sixteen is automatically not boring. Sorry, bro, I win." He said as he pulled into the junk yard. "So when are we telling the resident firestarter about the medic thing? Maybe I should premedicate."

"You don't medicate enough as it is. You telling me you are going to actually take drugs to avoid the ahm... fireworks?" He asked, and pointed off to the left. "Head down there." He said remembering an old car he had seen over there while on a parts run for Dean a while back. He wasn't sure what year or make it was but it had fins and that meant it had to be old and cool right?

"If this is anything later than a 1975, I'm disowning you." Dean said, shaking his head as he steered the car around debris until Jack pointed out the car in mind, half hidden around other cars.

And it definitely had fins. It was definitely earlier than 1975. He got out of the car, still carefully and went over to look at it. Then he grinned. "The Impala had three good years. 1967 being the top, as you see." He said to Jack as he circled the car, gesturing over to his own car. "The 1965 was a good year. Another good year was 1958. This, little brother, is a 1958 Chevy Impala. Good find! Might be a mechanic in you somewhere." It was in rough shape, but Dean wasn't even seeing it as it was right now, but how it was before, and how it could be.

Jack smiled. He was glad Dean was pleased, but in all honesty it had just been the fact that it had fins and was ragged enough that it would keep him busy for a few weeks without putting the family cars up on blocks again...and again. "Glad you like it. Let's go find the guy that owns this place and try not to have that gleam in your eyes while we haggle."

"Me? Gleam in my eyes?" Dean said. "That's why they make sunglasses dude." He said and slid them on. "Why would I have a gleam in my eye? It's just a car. Sure, it's a representative of the first year an Impala was ever made. Thousands of teenage boys got a new lease on their sex life if they got one of these back in the day. Mechanical minded men all over the world could possibly get an erection just from the sound of the words 57 Impala...gleam, what gleam? There's no gleam."

"You're right. There is no gleam... you're glowing. Be careful. your baby will get jealous." He said as he got back in the car. They were screwed. The guy had only to look at Dean's car and know that he would want it bad.

"Nah." Dean said, patting the dashboard. "She knows she's the one and only. Everything else is just sideline distraction. Don't worry about her. Or the owner. By the time I'm done, he'll think we're doing him a favor by taking it off his hands."

"Then I will leave you to it." Jack said. He wanted to see how Dean would pull that off because he was convinced it was all working against them at the moment, but what the hell. It would be amusing.

"Yeah, just stand back and watch the master at work." Dean said with a laugh as he haggled with the owner. It was forty five minutes later that Dean grinned triumphantly. "Great doing business with you." He said. He'd gotten it at a real steal, they just had to pay towing fees. Of course it was such a wreck the owner didn't think it could be saved.

"Only you." Jack said, shaking his head. "So I figure I could break the news to Ben about my career change tonight after dinner." He didn't like dropping big news during the meal. Then people forgot about food... or it got too hot to actually eat in the room. Either way bad.

"Okay, sounds good. And if it gets too hot in there, and you start yelling back, I can double over in pain or something and distract you two." Dean joked. He had yet to double over in pain. Not that he didn't want to, just that he refused to.

"Yeah... and you want to see how fast Kaylie shoves lortab down your throat?" He said. "While Ben and I take you to the hospital? Man, you turned DOWN the morphine in the hospital, not up. The nurses thought you were some sort of pain junkie."

"The nurses thought I was cute." Dean said with a laugh as he made arrangements to have the car towed to Ben's. "Morphine makes you feel fuzzy anyway. Remember the nurse that couldn't cross the brick line? You think I wanted to be doped up with her roaming the halls?"

"Yeah that was freakish. You think she was one of the demons come to finish the job?" He asked, not knowing that Sam had made the demon swear they would leave Dean alone. He didn't know about the bargain that was made either.

"I don't know. Still didn't want her anywhere near me." Dean said. "So I stayed awake." Morphine took away control, and he liked what little control he had, especially over bodily functions. "But the rest of them thought I was cute."

"They felt sorry for you because Sam ditched you." Jack pointed out. "Couldn't figure out how he was so freaked, refusing to leave your side one minute, then poof- gone the next. And for the record... no one is cute with two black eyes, a busted lip, " the list went on and on.

"Well, apparently it runs in the family. Because I just 'poofed and went' too." Dean said with a chuckle. "You went with me, so there. We all go poof! It's ingrained to live on the edge of society I think, even you. Nothing wrong with that, really. Makes it easier. People have too many problems." He said with a laugh.

Jack shook his head. He couldn't understand how Dean could be so casually forgiving of Sam. Jack wasn't even the one that had been abandoned and he had a hard time not wanting to strangle the man. It was insane. Unless there really had been a deal made, but Dean seemed to think there hadn't been. "People have problems, but people are what makes life worth living."

"You read that on the back of a cereal box?" Dean asked. He spent his whole life saving people, helping people, and still felt so completely separate from them as a whole. Jack really was the normal one of the bunch. He never got paid for what he did, hell he rarely even got thanked. Most of the time he was just arrested for his trouble. So his view on people was skewed.

"Nope, learned it from a demon and a barmaid." He told him with a grin. "Couple of lessons along the way from this guy on the FBI's top 10." He shrugged. Society and people were two different things. Society pretty much sucked. Jack wasn't blind. And yes, he lived just enough out side of it while functioning in it to know that. There was nothing fair or good about society. It was an ant farm pure and simple. But people... people as individuals were amazing things. Capable of acts of purity and absolue depravity. It was people that were worth saving, and people that were worth living for.

"You hang out with strange people." Dean said, laughing. "I don't know, dude, I, you know, kinda like it around here. And, yeah, maybe my body can't take much more punishment." He still remembered the doctor's face after an Xray which showed every bone in his body had been broken at least once in his life.

"Then stay. You don't have to give up hunting just because you stay put. Besides... it makes more sense to focus on Sam right now, instead of all the other crap out there. Dividing your efforts seems counter productive." He suggested "You have seriously marketable skills, that you can use to work under the table so off the feds radar... and when your body can take it again there are always weekend hunting trips. I mean all of you hunter types can't drive around the country taking out what ever you happen to come across. "

Jack made a lot of sense. Pastor Jim had a homebase, his church. Bobby had his salvage yard. Even Ellen's late husband had the roadhouse. And frankly it was lonely driving around the country by yourself. Sam wasn't there, and it wasn't like Jack would sign up (even if he did, Kaylie and Ben would kill them both anyway).

"Yeah, I'll think about it." Dean allowed. "So you sure you want Kaylie there for the big announcement if the whole point of it is to get your adrenaline rush and enough money to marry her?"

"If all I needed was an adrenaline rush I would take up parasailing." He said honestly. "Have friends that have been begging me to come try it out." He shrugged. "It's about helping people. And I just won't mention the money and marriage thing. Besides, if I am going to spend my life with her, I should hear what she has to say aobut this before I do it."

Dean chuckled. "Okay, good point." He said. He hoped it worked out for Jack and Kaylie, he'd seen far too many destroyed relationships, it would be nice to see one that worked. He pulled back into Ben's driveway and parked the Impala. "Definitely after dinner. I think I'm hungry."

"You and me both. Besides we need to break it to him that there will be another car in the drive before we break it to him that I'm going into the hero business." He said with a grin. "Although she is going to be something else once you are done with her."

"Bet your ass." Dean said. "Then there will be two awesome cars built by me on the road. Talk about an ego trip." He said with a chuckle as he eased himself out of the Impala. "Hey Ben." He said. "I have good news and bad news."

"The good news is that you're finally going to, oh I don't know, shower?" Ben said, since Dean had been working on the cars all day. "The bad news being you forgot where the soap is?"

"Funny guy." Dean said with a chuckle.

"The good news is that you aren't going to have to worry about the family cars being molested anymore. The bad news is that we are having a car from the junk yard delivered for him to work on. Small price to pay to save the virture of the family fleet." Jack teased, and laughed at the look he got from both men. "Seriously... it will be worth it. So what's for dinner anyway? We're starved."

"Kaylie's picking up subs." Ben said. "Wings for me. Apparently this new place promises hot wings to burn the flesh off your mouth. Let's see how highly disappointed I am this time."

"Dude, you're weird." Dean said. "But, yeah, shower sounds good."

"You got two holes left in you. Don't get them wet, because dressing changes before dinner time is just unseemly." Ben said as he turned a page in his newspaper.

"Did a demon really just use the word unseemly?" Dean teased.

"Yeah. it was one of my first snobby words too. You don't wanna know how much I got picked on for saying something was just unseemly in grade school." Jack said as they headed in the door. The wreck was delivered while Dean was showering, and Jack signed for it. Shrugging at the looks he was getting from Ben. "It'll keep him busy and out of our cars. "

"There is that." Ben said. "Though you're just encouraging him, you know. It's not like Sam is dead, he's just not here."

Kaylie came in with the food and gave the wreck a weird look. "Don't tow trucks usually tow wrecks away, not deliver them?" She asked as she set the food down and kissed Jack.

"It's Dean's new pet project." Jack said and sighed looking over at Ben. "I know. But it's healthier than drinking and that would be his next avenue to deal. I need him to heal before he takes off again. I asked him to stick around but I don't know if he will or not once he has healed. This Sam thing has him tore up. He just won't admit it. He is convinced that he can save him. If it could happen... I wouldn't have lost Mom."

"Yeha, you're probably right." Ben said. "And I guess he needs time to adjust to that. Maybe he would have been better off if we told him Sam was dead."

"You know, rude to talk about people while they're showering." Dean said, coming out in clean clothes and removing the plastic wrap from his remaining dressings. "And it wouldn't have been better."

"So next time we ... talk about you while you are out there under what's left of the hood of the new ... old... Impala out there." Jack said "I'm starving, lets eat" He wanted to avoid any more confrontation until after they had thier sandwiches devoured. He took a seat and focused on the food, mostly ignoring the conversation around him unless he was directly spoken to, and even then it took a little to get his attention.

They tried to include him in their conversation, which was about nothing, but Jack was distracted. Until finally the sandwiches and wings were finished and Kaylie sat next to him. "Baby, I'm pregnant." She said. She wasn't, but she wanted to see if he was paying any attention. "An alien with really greasy tentacles did it. And I'm leaving you to become a Melissa Etheridge groupie."

Jack's eyes widened and his head popped up at her first sentence, everything else was forgotten, including the rest of her words. "What?" He asked. "Okay... ahm... I thought we were you know.. .careful and that you ... you know... but okay... ahm... I guess we ... wow... baby?" He asked, paling a little. "I ahm... wow... really? okay... I ahm... wow... Baby... oooh boy... okay... how far along?"

Dean threw a sub crust at his head. "She's not pregnant you dolt. Unless she's cheating on you with an alien and is a closet lesbian on top of that. Though, you know, girl on girl can be pretty hot." He said.

"Sorry." Kaylie said. "Just trying to get your attention. Dean said you had an announcement now that we're done eating. Actually, he said that twice, with throat clearing and everything."

"Maybe he's leaving you to be an Elton John groupie." Ben suggested.

Jack blushed deeply. "Sorry." He said to Kaylie for not listening, "But in my defense, the words I'm pregnant... tends to turn a man's brain off for a moment while it processes." He laughed a little. "Actually what I wanted to talk to you about was the fact that I've rethought my career path. I'm going to go and talk to some people tomorrow about becoming a paramedic."

"Paramedic? Wow." Kaylie said, then she smiled. "I think you'll be good at it. Been practicing on him for a few weeks now."

Ben blinked a few times. "Well, uh. Okay. Thought you might say something else." Like hey Ben, I'm running off with Dean to become a full fledged hunter! Ain't that great! "Paramedic. Honorable. Pay is crap."

"Yeah, no one wants to properly compensate heroes in this world." He said with a shrug. "The pay is crap but it's enough to make a life on. And if not I can always play bouncer on the weekends." He teased with that one. Ben rarely needed any one bounced and usually he did it himself. With a look."But I think I will be happier doing that than I would in some office some where. Or running a store."

"Yeah you probably will." Ben said. "Well, guess I should be thankful I wasn't paying for your college, huh?"

"And there's the demonic version of tact." Dean said.

"Hey, my college hasn't gone to waste. I still have to have a college degree. " He said with a laugh. "That's part of what I am going to go find out, what will transfer over to the new major and what won't, and then there is the EMT course that I can take and start working, since it adds to my degree AND pays... it can't pay any worse than Game Depot."

"Baby nothing pays worse than the Game Depot." Kaylie said, laying down with her head in his lap. "Except, maybe, my job." She said with a laugh.

"Got you both beat. I don't get anything but trouble with my job." Dean said.

"And I'm actually a millionaire in several off shore numbered accounts." Ben said. Of course, he'd had years and years to accumulate it all.

"Yeah, not that it shows." Jack said with a smile. "And I keep telling you, Dean, you should set yourself up as a mechanic once you are recovered. You would make better money than Kaylie and I combined." He stroked Kaylie's hair gently. "So you okay with this?" He asked her. "It really does seriously change my earning potential."

"Give me a little credit!" Kaylie said. "If I was after money, I'd so be doing Ben." Which made Dean laugh to the point where he had to hold his side.

Jack had to laugh at that too. "That wasn't how I meant it, honey." He said, trying to stop lauging at the imagery of Kaylie and Ben. That was about as likely as Kaylie and Dean. "I just meant that you know...we had talked about things ... almost made plans... and I didn't want to just go and change everything if you weren't on board."

"I'm fine with it." Kaylie said. "We'll just downscale the plans a bit. There are still plans though." She said with a smile.

"I think I'm going to be sick." Dean said with a shake of his head as he drank his beer.

"That's just because your girl has 4 wheels instead of 2 legs." Jack said with a grin. "If you got a real girl, you wouldn't feel nauseated every time people have a boy-girl conversation."

Sam finished off his third beer and got the courage to dial the familiar number. "Hey Bobby, it's Sam."

"Sam?" Bobby said and put his own beer down. He recognized the voice. "How are you doing? Where are you? Dean's been worried sick over you. What have you done this time?"

"What you told me not to." Sam admitted. "I just wanted to find out how he was doing... if he was healing okay... you know... if they were leaving him alone."

"Sammy..." Bobby said with a sigh. "He's in Texas. With Jack. He drug Dean's ass back there once his face started returning to normal. Heard from him last week, wanting to know if I heard from you in fact. He's...okay. As good as can be expected. I expect some days are better than others. What are you doing now, Sam?"

"Sending Demons back to hell." He said. "The ahm... Demon said if I went near Dean he would reverse the process and kill him slowly. I gotta stay away." He said. The loneliness and sorrow coming through in his voice. "I don't want to Bobby, but I have to. But hey," he said swallowing hard, "I'll send as many of the bastards home before I go all dark side as I can. You ahm... you remember how Dad got rid of Maggie, right? "

Bobby sighed. "Vaguely." This was worse than he thought. John would be rolling over in his grave (if he had one) at the thought of his boys being separated like this. "Ben found it. Last I knew, your daddy had it."

"Ben will still know... if Dad kept it, it would be in his truck. " Sam lay his head back against the head rest of the bed. "When it happens... don't let Dean be involved. I don't care if you have to drug him senseless or chain him in the basement... he can't be involved... it'll kill him. Dad should never have told him to do it. It's not right. You shouldn't have to put down people you love, even if they are monsters. "

"And it'll kill your brother once he realizes you traded yourself for him." Bobby said somberly. "Did you think about that? A few good years and then he's probably going to blow his head off. Or make you kill him."

"I didn't tell Dean that. I told him that I had started to slide into darkness and that was why I took off. Don't you dare tell him the truth, Bobby. There is no good reason to tell him. He thinks it started before I left in Texas. I want him to keep thinking that. Jack's good for him. They hit it off pretty well, didn't they?" He had to hope. Had to keep some small grain of hope that Dean was going to be alright. "They tortured him to get to me. I couldn't let him die because of me. They've taken everyone else ... I couldn't let them take him, too."

"Sam, it's really admirable what you did. I know you love your brother a lot." Bobby said, shaking his head as he poured out some dog food for Rumsfeld. "But if you truly go dark, Dean's gonna be right on your ass. You know it. Because if you go really dark, you're going to want that."

"That's why I'm counting on you, Bobby. It'll be obvious, cause I will want him to know that it's me." He said, wiping at his eyes. "But hey, we could get lucky and I could make the yellow eyed son of a bitch finish things off for me. " He laughed softly. "Exorcising Meg almost did it. If I get too many of his kids he'll flip nicely. "

"I hope you know what you're doing." Bobby said. "Too many exorcisms alone by laymen cost a piece of the soul each time." He hoped Father Pavel had found him, like he'd asked. Cashed in some serious favors for that one.

"Perhaps but at least if I lose it that way... it's fighting the good fight, not just slipping away into the darkness because of what I am. Who knows... maybe the soul will wind up in heaven after all. Look... ahm... let Dean know I'm okay. Still fighting the good fight and all of that." He figured Dean would figure out he wasn't calling him because of the fear his brother would trace him through the phone. "But ahm, I'm gonna call it a night. I have a sunrise to watch in the morning."

Bobby barely refrained from chuckling. Father Pavel and his sunrises. Proof that God loves his children. Bobby always thought that was beer. "Will do, kiddo. Take care of yourself."


	5. Chapter 5

Sam was awake long before sunrise. Sleep didn't come easy to him. It had been a long time since he had enjoyed a full night's sleep that hadn't come from a bottle or pain meds. Usually his sleep was filled with images of Jessica, Madison, his father. Now there was Dean as well. The image of him hanging limply, so badly abused that he was unrecognizable would haunt him for the rest of his existence he was sure.

It was those images he was trying to banish as he walked to the nearby park. He had been cursed with his very conception. His family had been cursed. the demon hadn't been satisfied with creating another of his children, he had to make sure that the entire family, everyone that knew or could love them, was miserable or dead... or both.

It was so hard to believe in miracles when all you saw was curses. So much evil and he had yet to witness one miracle that wasn't a curse in disguise. Yet here he was, staring at the sunrise, hoping to see it as the miracle the aging priest had told him it was.

Sam wanted to have faith. He wanted to believe that God actually cared. He knew God existed just as he knew Lucifer existed. That Angels and Demons both existed. But God and His forces were quiet. Letting people like Dean fight their battles for them with not so much as a side ways glance. Dean and his father had been left swinging in the breeze after all the sacrifices they had made to do the right thing. To save people from an evil that God not only allowed to exist but cast out of heaven and into the realm of men.

Sam didn't have any trouble believing. But right then he figured God was enjoying the show. His own personal soap opera or horror movie.

He sighed as the sun crested the horizon. Some where in Corpus Christi, Texas, Dean was sleeping through this sunrise. Bobby was safe and sound, probably up and already working on the next vehicle. Ellen was sleeping hard after a long night's work in the Road House.

He watched as the colors splayed across the sky. Reds and golds mingling with the blue and white. "Red sky in morning... wonder if that's hunters as well as sailors." Still it was beautiful. And peaceful. Might not be a miracle, or even proof of anything more than the fact that God runs the universe like clock work. But at least it was peaceful.

The little evils were crawling away into their dark hole, and the hunters who didn't worry about demons so much as spirits and werewolves were going back to their beds to sleep in relative safety.

Well... maybe there were things about a sunrise to be thankful for after all.

He made his way back to the hotel and drove to a diner he had seen the day before. While he waited on his food to arrive, he called the number the priest had given him. No time like the present to work on his arsenal. He had a long fight ahead of him.

Father Pavel answered on the ninth ring. He had been engrossed in his morning prayers that, unless he was in an exorcism, he faithfully did every morning with the sunrise. Thankful that he had lived to witness yet another one. The cycle would repeat at sunset. He kissed his battered rosary beads and carefully put them away, along with his prayer stole, and stiffly got to his feet to answer the cell phone.

Young people lived with these things. Some were so good, they could receive reception in the deepest most primitive jungles. He knew, he had that kind of phone. It was a convenience, a modern trifle that he had been saddled with, but one he bore with more grace than the rest of his burdens.

"Good morning, child." Father Pavel said, answering it finally. "I had not expected you to actually arise with the sun this morning."

"I don't sleep so well." Sam admitted. "I would like to learn from you, if I could... if... you're still willing to teach me." He figured it was more than possible, it was highly probable that the priest had rethought things. Teaching church secrets to a soon to be demon didn't seem like a sound career move for a priest.

"I am." Father Pavel said. "Be certain to what you are committing to. Because there is no turning back on the road. I was given an out once, when I was twenty two years old, had I known then what I know now, I might have chosen differently." Waking without pain. Perhaps allowed himself a single sinful thought.

"Well...my idea of what I am committing to and yours may be two different ideas. Perhaps we should talk about this in person. I mean ... not expecting me to take vows and join orders are you?" He asked half joking but he honestly had no way to be sure.

Father Pavel laughed. "I don't know, could you take a vow of charity, poverty and celibacy?" He said with a chuckle. "Not to mention more schooling, training, and hoping that you are hand picked by the Pope for this office? Child, I don't have that much time, I'm an old man remember. But certainly, we should meet. Where are you at?"

"Kelly's Diner." He said. "It's over on 5th and Pine." He said with a laugh. "Well... not sure that I have been given to many acts of charity in the normal sense, but poverty has been arranged for me and celibacy... well... that's pretty much a given these days. The rest... no... I doubt they would have me if they knew. And I don't think either of us have that much time."

"I shall join you." Father Pavel said. "If you order me a cup of tea, I shall arrive when it does." He said and hung up, catching a cab. He did have some funds. He was bound by a vow of poverty, certainly, but he did have a small expense account. He arrived at the diner right as the waitress was putting the cup of tea on the table. "Da, very much appreciated." He said with a nod to the waitress. "Your poverty and celibacy do not quite count if they are not actively chosen. But the thought is appreciated." He joked. "And time is always of the essence."

"Celibacy was chosen, but I don't know that I want to take a vow of it." He said with a laugh. He had finished his meal and was sipping at his coffee. "What is it that's going to be expected?" He asked. People thought that Sam liked questions. all of his life there were always questions and more questions. But the truth was Sam hated questions. Questions were big empty spaces aching to be filled. They were hidden truths, and dangers. Answers were what Sam liked. Answers put the control back in his hands, or at least the illusion of it. So when Sam found a question, he wanted it gotten rid of and answered as quickly as possible. Especially now. Especially this. He needed to know everything before he took the next step.

"Forthrightness." Father Pavel said. "To the point that it hurts. Because anything a demon could use against you, he will. Like knives thrown at you in a hurricane. Until you can't stand it and you beg him for death. But it never comes, because that would be far too easy. Far too painless. Everyone has inner demons, and they must be faced and vanquished, or the evil will win every time. Can you do that?" Bobby had his doubts, and Bobby knew Sam far better than Father Pavel.

Sam took a deep breath. "I can try. Do you want to know details? Like 24 years of back confessions?" He didn't know if it would help. "They have allot to use against me. What I am pretty much insured that." He didn't know if he was going to be comfortable with telling the priest everything but the demons knew it anyway and they would shout it out to the heavens he was sure. Better he hear it from Sam than the enemy.

"You are nephilim. You mentioned that last night. After you attempted to exorcise a demon by yourself." Father Pavel said. "All the rest, sex, drugs, your rock and roll, is not important. That is the culture today. Your inner demons are your own, I have them myself. But you must have a pure heart. And the ability to clear your mind. The road to hell, they say, is paved with good intentions. But the staircase to heaven is lined with the souls of the righteous. They were not perfect men, but they did their part."

Sam nodded. "My whole life has been about fighting the good fight. We used to call it the family business. I guess Dean still does. Part of me is still in it to save people. Most of me I suppose, but another part of me... is making a final stand. I can't lay down and just let it take me with out some sort of fight. The vengeance part of it ... I think is done. Ole yellow eyes might bring that out in me again... but the others, it's just... what I do."

"Good." Father Pavel said and pulled out several old, tattered books from his suitcase he carried everywhere. "Then here is what you must learn. I have no time to wait for you to graduate from seminary. Therefore, how do you say, crash course. Tonight I leave, a nice simple possession, but it is somewhere else. You may come, you may assist. On the job training is what is best. But you must accept that everything you know is but the tip of the iceberg, and that I am in the charge."

Sam nodded. "Yes, sir." He said with the hint of a smile. He could readily accept that. He and Dean had spent most of their life learning as they went. Hunting was always OJT, and anyone that thought otherwise wasn't going to live long out there. "Ahm.. driving, flying... how do you plan to get there ?" He was going, but he had to figure out what to do with the truck first. 

"Flying." The priest said. "When I first started, I was taking boats to every place. Now, I fly on chartered plane by Vatican. Because the things I carry wouldn't make it past the security checkpoints." He said. "We take the plane at eight o'clock tonight. Until then, I have a parish to visit. I like to reconnect with a regular flock once in a while, lightens the load."

"Yeah... I can understand that." After all calling, Bobby had lightened Sam's. "I'll find some place to store my truck for a while then. When should I meet you?" He asked picking up one of the books to look at it.

"At the airport. I shall be in a private hangar. Bring changes of clothing, but nothing else. Your weapons will be of no use my way. Perhaps later I will teach you how to use them, but for now, we stay in tradition." Father Pavel said.

Sam nodded. "Alright." He said, although going with out weapons gave him a bit of a chill. No weapons usually meant trouble, but this wasn't a hunt. This was an exorcism. The rules were probably different. Besides, nothing he had was able to take down a demon. He knew that from bitter experience. "I'll be there a little before 8."

"Good, good. I will see you then." Father Pavel said as he drank his tea. "Did you catch the sunrise? You say you sleep not so well, but did you watch it?"

"Yes Father, I did." He said with a nod. "It was... peaceful. No one else was around. It was nice." He didn't quite believe it was a miracle. But he didn't believe that it wasn't either.

Father Pavel smiled. "Good. I am glad to hear that." He said. "I've always found peace at the beginning of new days."

"Most of the little evils have gone to bed when the sun comes up." Sam said, staring at his hands. "Most hunters think it's safe then... safe to sleep or let your guard down. It's not though. Not really."

"Also the glare from the rising sun can blind a bus driver and run over a family of four." Father Pavel pointed out gently. "It doesn't make it any less than a new day. New days can be good, they can be bad. But they are new days, and not something to take for granted."

"There is that." Sam said with a hint of a smile. "Okay... I shouldn't be smiling here." He teased. "You just mentioned someone running over a family of four. That's wrong." He laughed a little. He could still do that. Had to do that. The alternative wasn't going to be a life worth living.

"A family of four foolish enough to not look both ways." Father Pavel said with a glimmer of amusement in his own eyes. "You see, you can still laugh. The sunrise did you good."

"I suppose it did at that." Sam told him. "So... do I take these and start reading or is there a specific syllabus to follow?" He asked. He was actually apprenticing himself to a priest... to an exorcist. Talk about things one would never have expected in a million years.

"There is no syllabus. I trained on the job, after seminary of course. After I had been doing it quite a long time, I was pulled in for psychology courses. I suppose some of the so called possessed are actually ill, but it's too easy an excuse. Especially when you can innately know the difference." Father Pavel said. "Just browse them. See how they're different from the training you have already received."

"So where are we going?" He asked as he picked up all of them figuring he could spend the day reading. Research was something he was good at and actually enjoyed. It was why he had been so good at school. John and Dean liked to say it was because he was so smart but Sam didn't think so . He thought it was just that he was good at digging up information. And that's what got you through on tests. Academia was nothing but test preparation really.

"We'll be along the Mississippi River. There are far too many voodoo rituals gone wrong, done by amateurs that invite possession." Father Pavel said with a shake of his head. "Amateurs. If they knew half of what they were fooling with, they'd hide under their beds. Instead of waiting for others to come pick up their messes, like unruly children."

"People play with magic all the time. Unfortunately Voodoo and Satanism have a draw for depressed desperate kids. It promises empowerment and they don't know that there isn't really any such thing out there. Not for free." Dean was the one with experience dealing with Voodoo. Hopefully this would just be a simple possession, not dealing with the cult as well.

"And certainly not for the enslaved, for even that empowerment comes with strings." Father Pavel said. "But we are just going to the disturbed ones. And some psychiatric wards, so you can see the difference between the insane and the possessed. For to the layman, there is no difference. Unless you know what you're looking for."

"Dean and I," his voice choked a little at that, "my brother... we never really went out looking for the possessed to exorcise. They usually found us... made their presence pretty clear, black eyes, pinning us to the wall with out needing hands... I guess the days of waiting to be attacked are over. Can't say I'm gonna miss that."

"Oh you will be attacked. Have no doubt on that." Father Pavel said. "What we face is the scourge of the demon world, those that prey on the weak, the disturbed. Sometimes the only freedom is death. Exorcisms are hard on everyone involved. I've known too many priests who have fought beside me, who have never made it out of the room in one piece. This is not the kind, gentle Church that has been promoting itself for the last hundred years or so."

"You can't be gentle with demons. There was a girl that we exorcised that died... because the demon had taken so much damage while possessing her that when it was no longer possessing her, the body couldn't survive. My brother was nearly killed by a demon and the damned thing didn't even touch him physically. I doubt they will surprise me much. I just hate that they keep coming back no matter how much we send them back to hell."

Father Pavel smiled a bit. "They don't come back when I do it." And they didn't. Because he worked with an entirely different sort of power than the Winchesters did. The very power than banished said demons from heaven in the first place. "You'll see."

"Then I will definitely want to learn. So ... you banish the actual fallen as well? Not just the second generation?" He asked. If he could then this could become Sam's new Holy Grail. If his father truly were tormented in hell for his sacrifice, Sam hoped that it brought at least a brief moment of pleasure or at least contentment to see the demons cast back into hell by his sons. To know that his work was still being carried on.

"Fallen, second generation, third generation, the Unclean One himself." Father Pavel said as he drank his tea, as if he were discussing the weather. "It's all in a day's work. This is what God himself chose me to do, so I do it. To do other wise would be blasphemy. Then I would not be a very good priest."

"Will you be able to teach me to cast out the Fallen?" He asked. It was a stretch. Sam was as unclean as he could be without having crawled up from the pits of hell himself. He didn't think so but it would please him to no end to be able to cast his demonic father into hell to stay.

"I don't know." Father Pavel said honestly. "We will research that. There might be a way, if there is, we will find it. Or a...what is the word...hole of a loop? Loop hole. But, child, if you are going demonic willingly, the power required and harnessed in an exorcism will be painful for you."

Sam frowned a little. "Willing is a ... strong word. I agreed to open myself up to the powers inside me so that he would save my brother. Of course he tortured him to the brink of death to begin with." He sighed. "Well... if it hurts, it hurts. It's what I want to do... what I need to do."

"Ah. Redemption. Never an easy path." Father Pavel said. "But it's a good one. Do you know why Catholics no longer do saint celebrations? Because they're boring. Far too clean, no scandal. The martyrs, the ones with trials, with purpose, those are the tales one likes to tell. Jesus himself had doubted his own faith and his own purpose. Therefore, it is all right for us to do so."

"I've had this ... destiny... hanging over me. Everything falling into place... not where I want them to be, believe me. Visions that lead me down paths... I mean we went to help people but it was all leading toward the yellow eyed demon's plan. Using our need to help people against us." He shook his head. "I don't know if this path is going to save me or destroy me. I guess it all will play out how it plays out... but it's good to know I won't be unstoppable if I cross over."

"The only unstoppable one is God." Father Pavel said. "Everyone else, everything else, is very much stoppable if the right hands are doing the stopping. The path as you call it, your destiny, will as you say play out as it should. But how it should may not be what you think."

"I hope so." He said, as he looked out the window. "I hope so." Dean's life depended on it.

Sam spent the rest of the day studying. It was very much different from what he had been brought up with. Some of it gave him chills. Some of it was a matter of a different phrase here and there. It was a good deal longer as well. the ritual they used was truncated. Cut down for quick and dirty use. Probably set up in hopes of getting rid of the weak ones and scaring off the bigger ones.

He divested himself of his weapons, smiling a little thinking that Dean would make a Star Wars reference. Luke entering the cave and being told by his mentor not to take weapons. He hoped his brother was healing well, but it was so hard to trust in second hand knowledge even when it came from Bobby. He packed up his things and drove the truck over to a storage facility then walked through the shadows to the air port, stepping out from behind the hanger, to make his way over to the aging priest.

The priest gave him a smile. "Welcome to Air Vatican." He said with a chuckle. "Come, we should get settled in before they start the pre flight." Father Pavel was used to flying. All around the world. "You didn't leave the books behind did you?"

"No, I have them here with me." Sam said with a smile. He wasn't accustomed to flying but he wasn't afraid of it like his brother. Then again he hadn't been tortured with heights either. "Lead on." He said, pulling the books from the large pockets in his coat, that normally held weapons, and holy water.

Father Pavel lead the way up the stairs. The plane was appointed nicely, but not to excess. Because he was a priest after all. "There are drinks and snacks. I'd eat now, the appetite goes along with the time to eat."

Sam nodded. "Okay." He said as he took a seat and settled in. He still felt naked without his weapons. What if there was something else that came at them? What if they were attacked outside of the realm of the exorcism? But he supposed he could deal with that now without the weapons in some ways. "So is there a case history to go over or ... something...?"

"Oh certainly." Father Pavel said. "This one," he passed the file, "is a sixteen year old girl who claims she is possessed by Satan himself. This one," another file, "is a thirty five year old man who has been speaking in tongues." He passed files until Sam had about two dozen or so in his lap. "They keep me busy." Because he was a dying breed.

"No wonder you want an apprentice." He said as he picked up the top file. "Satan himself. How often does Lucifer actually possess human beings?" He asked. It seemed a big risk to take even for the Prince of Darkness. He looked over her history. "Aramaic... that's not something the average 16 year old would pick up. Not even by watching The Passion of the Christ a thousand times over. Certainly not well enough to be profane."

"Oh hardly ever. But some demons claim that they are Satan." Father Pavel said. "I suppose you skip the part in your Cliff Notes exorcism on demanding a name from the demon? That's the source of true power, to get it to reveal its name. Because it's easier to draw it out then. To banish it. Because they lie, they cheat, they corrupt. But truth is always the greatest weapon."

Sam nodded. "It's definitely the quick and dirty version I learned and you would probably disapprove of some of the things we have done with that ritual. But I am more than willing to learn to do it the right way." Torturing demons, making them undo bargains they had made, forcing them to reveal information. Yeah they had used it for just about everything NOT in the priest's handbook he was sure.

"There is no 'right' way, but you will learn my way." Father Pavel said. "There are so many rituals to choose from, to tailor into what you need. It is so important to know what you're dealing with before committing to a course of action. Exorcisms aren't read from a book, they're fought from within. Which makes them so dangerous."

"I have a ward against possession that I wear. Was possessed once and that was enough. The demon let me see some of the terrible things it was doing using my body... hurting people I care about... who takes care of the victim once they are free? Or is that another department?"

"That is another department, as you would say." Father Pavel said. "When I call in a successful exorcism, they immediately dispatch a team made of priests and psychiatrists. The local parish is then involved. Sometimes they are hospitalized afterwards, because of what they've been through, but we don't just leave them in Siberia to rot. An unsuccessful exorcism is turned over to the local parish, who have a relationship with the family and can help them through their grief."

"When the subject dies during the exorcism... do we know what happens to their soul?" He knew that sometimes Demons allowed their host to die. A slap in the face to the exorcist, he was sure. Those were the ones that he worried about. "If the soul responds accordingly, they are welcomed into heaven, right?"

"Such a question. It depends on the soul. Some people, they invite possession in. Are so broken already that there is no repair. The innocents, they certainly go to heaven, that I believe." Father Pavel said. "The rest, it depends on the soul. I believe God takes them on a case by case basis. There is no easy answer, because none of us really know. We can't. But the damage a possessed person can do if allowed to stay possessed, to the people who love them, the people who hope and pray for them, or even the people who don't even know them, is too much of a risk."

"I know." Sam said, and he did. The things he had almost done to Jo, to Dean... the hunter he had killed. It wasn't his doing, but it had been all the same. "There is no way for a soul in hell to escape, is there?" He said, as his thoughts turned to his father, strangely.

"It depends on why they're there." Father Pavel said thoughtfully. "Of course, if you heard about this soul from a demon, just discount it. Demons lie. Even when they tell the truth, they lie."

"My father sacrificed himself to the demon to save my brother's life. Dean found out when he was...well.. using an exorcism as torture to make the demon release this guy from his bargain... since his 10 years were up...anyway... he was told that our father was suffering there."

"Obviously the demon was under duress. Perhaps it thought if it said that, and offered a bargain, your brother would stop. And in that instant of ceasing, kill your brother or trap him into a completely different bargain." Father Pavel said. "Sacrifices like that, like what your father did, even if it's part of the bargain, it's so self less, God overrules it."

Sam took a deep breath and held it a moment, but the tears welled in his eyes anyway. He let it out slowly and wiped at his eyes. "Gonna have to send word through channels to Dean about that. The guilt has been tearing him apart."

"I will pass the message if you like." Father Pavel said. "I am familiar with hunter channels. Like I said, you do your part. And it is appreciated. Peace of mind is a very important gift you know. You should feel better to have thought of it."

"I'd appreciate that." Sam said and wrote down Dean's name and cell phone number, handing it over. "Just in case they don't know how to contact him. We didn't get as immersed in the community as you might think. Dad kept us pretty sheltered from the majority of them. And yeah... I do feel better. It's one less victory that ... thing ... has over us." He chuckled. "That had to chap his hide, thinking he had John Winchester dead to rights and no such thing."

"And every victory we can take from them is important." Father Pavel said as he pocketed the number. "And that is one less thing that can be used against you, for you must believe it is a lie."

"It's something to hang on to. Not like they can produce evidence otherwise without letting Dad out of hell to do it." He said. "Besides... Dad is the last man any self respecting demon would want in hell."

"I'm sure they'll feel that way about his sons too." Father Pavel said. He looked up at the captain's door. "We are about to land. Then we will catch a taxi cab and get started."

Sam nodded and cleared his thoughts, going over the ritual as the priest would be doing it, in his head, not wanting to screw things up by falling back on his own instinctive short cuts. A 16 year old girl's life and sanity depended on it. It was madness, the things human beings did to themselves. The things they brought on themselves and the world around them without knowing it. Possession wasn't all that came of mixing up with magic.

Father Pavel prayed on the way to the psychiatric center. And he was still praying when they were led to the ward for the criminally insane. Where they spent a good amount of time just watching the patients behind protective glass. The priest took notes and passed them to Sam on what to look for, what to ignore, what to pay close attention to.

"Unfortunately, the ones in here are beyond our help. We can exorcise them, possibly. But your justice system doesn't accept possession as a legal defense." He said.

Sam nodded. "Yeah, I know." He said "They don't believe in a lot of things... so what do we do for them... just leave the ones that are possessed here? Hope that the demons don't slip out wearing a security guard one day?" He asked, hating the thought of leaving them all in that torment. But what could they do? Most places wouldn't allow them to set up an exorcism anyway.

"We bind the demon to the body. So that it cannot escape." Father Pavel said sadly. "There is no choice in that instance, as much as I hate it. But those there have already been bound. Hence the anger."

"What method do you use?" He asked. "There was a sigil that was burned into me when the demon wanted to make sure she couldn't be exorcised. They just had to alter it to allow the demon out. Is it that simple for them to escape ?"

"It can be, for the laymen." Father Pavel said. "Remember, child, I work with an entirely different kind of power and the most awe inspiring highest authority. Even demons are subject to God's will, or they'd be back in the kingdom of Heaven. Or at the very least, would have already taken over Earth."

"I will never be able to keep them permanently at bay, will I?" He said with a nod. "Oh well... slowing them down is better than nothing at all." He continued to ask questions, because that was Sam's way. Knowledge was what he craved. Peace, happiness, a normal life, those things had fallen to flames that had taken Jessica from him. He had known then that he would have none of those things. Knowledge however, that was a hunger that still remained with him. One that this man would be able to fill. Even if he couldn't give him the power to fight the darkness as his equal.

"Never say never. The only entity in the whole universe who can say never and mean it is God himself. And until the day he whispers in your ear and tells you such, never say never." Father Pavel said. "But slowing them down, banishing them, it's all quite a good start you know. That's nothing to be ashamed of at all. Let us break for lunch. You have me nearly in teacher mode, young man, do not be afraid to tell this old man to shut up at any time. It has been a while since I've filled those shoes."

"Usually it's the teachers trying to get away from me." Sam said with a faint laugh. "Dean was always the perpetual motion machine... but with me it was questions. Believe me I will keep coming up with them." He let the aging priest lead him back to the car, opening doors for him as they went. He was starting to feel hope again. Not in his final out come, but in his ability to make a difference anyway.

Father Pavel related stories of his exorcisms over lunch. Underlining over and over that much preparation is always needed. "The Church rarely chooses Americans as exorcists. I for example am Russian. Because Americans have far too much a reputation for being cowboys. Dive headfirst into the problem and hope you come out the other side. When someone's soul is on the line, you cannot do that."

"I guess that is something I am going to have to work on. It's been how we have made our way through life." He shook his head. "I also gotta stop referring to myself as part of a we that doesn't exist anymore. " He in turn gave the priest the accounts of his own adventures and exorcisms. Not as much of it was seat of the pants as it seemed. It was more... adapting to the changing situation. But it was still very much... cowboying.

Father Pavel chuckled. "Well, at least I can skip the long winded lecture on religious symbolism. That's heart rendering in any case. You have quite a bit of good concrete historical knowledge. It should help. Your latin is good too, another step I get to skip. And all the steps I can safely skip the better." He felt his age so keenly every morning, he wondered if he would have enough time.

"Pastor Jim taught us a lot of that as we were growing up. Before we were old enough to hunt, we spent a lot of time with him while Dad was working." Sam finished his food and pushed the plate away. He had an appetite again. First time really since leaving his brother's hotel room. "So... I guess I should start learning more about the Church and all since I am borrowing their conduit to God's power, so to speak."

"Oh dear." Father Pavel said. "It's been so long since I've done any catechism class. Should we start with Genesis then? It's an awfully long book you know. Then there are the papal proclamations, saints, martyrs, beatified people..."

"Wow... guess there is a lot to learn... should probably pick up another book huh?" He said with a smile. "How about we start with the basics... and how it relates to exorcisms for now... we can stop off somewhere and I can get a book on catechism and start reading. Might be easier to go that route since we have so much more to cover as well. Hope you weren't thinking I was going to be an easy student."

"And I am not an easy teacher." Father Pavel said as he politely asked the waitress for a pad of paper. She brought him over a stack of restaurant letterhead and a pen, and Father Pavel began sketching out the Church hierarchy. "Strange, isn't it? You who consider yourself damned are in the presence of an exorcist. The only authority over me is the Holy Father the Pope. That demon who tainted your conception must be breaking out in boils."

Sam smiled. "Now there is an image I like." He said honestly. anything that caused that creature anger or pain, was fine by him. "In some ways, it's all still pretty surreal even to me. This is definitely not the road I saw myself on this time yesterday. I think my father would wonder at my sanity and why I need to go about things the hard way. Or what he saw as the hard way. "

"I entered the seminary because my mother told me to." Father Pavel said. "Smuggled me out of the country to do so." Since Russia was communist Soviet Union then. "Before that, I had fancied myself as a blacksmith or a carpenter. It is amazing how life throws at us things."

"It is... I was going to be a lawyer." He said. "Was even in school for it. Although some people would consider demon a better choice than lawyer." He said with a grin. "Always knew I would be fighting the darkness until it consumed me... just figured it in a more literal sense than this. It's been a rough year."

"It sounds it. And it will be used against you. There are some things you must have faith in. That your father's soul is in heaven. Because they will tell you otherwise. Perhaps even replicate his voice. That your brother is safe. That somehow, their threats are groundless." Father Pavel said. "Because usually by the time the threats come out, they've already been separated from the rest of the demons, no communication is possible. They're in no position to make good on their threats."

"I made him promise to leave my brother alone. So long as I don't go back to see him, or contact him, they won't touch him. But I expect they will try and make me break that rule so that they can go after him. Fortunately we have mutual friends that can let me know if anything has happened. Dad... well... the demon used his entire body while he was torturing Dean. I know they can mimic really well. Dad... no matter what was happening wouldn't want me to give up. I know that."

"Good." Father Pavel said. "Then they will be disappointed that they don't have a full arsenal against you. You will be assisting me this afternoon. Myself and the local parish priest, in the exorcism of the sixteen year old. Now, just a warning. She is sixteen. You are far closer to her age than either myself or Father Matthew. You will most likely be the target of sexual aggression."

"That's not a problem. It's been a while since... well... the last lover I took turned out to be a werewolf so you can imagine how that ended. I've pretty much sworn off women at this point. I can handle it."

"Just remember that there is a girl trapped deep down." Father Pavel said. "A scared, frightened girl. And that no matter how this ends, it's for her own good, one way or another she will be free. It is that black and white."

"I know." He said, and he did. it was why he had wanted Dean to kill him. Why he had been, in the end, willing to end Madison's life. Because sometimes the only release was death. "And I have an understanding of her position as well. I did things while possessed that... I would never do as a free man." He couldn't promise what he would or wouldn't do when his mind started to go as well as his soul.

Father Pavel peered at him over his tea cup. "Child, you're not as trapped and enslaved as you think. If you were, you would hardly be learning a classic exorcism rite at the feet of a master exorcist. You would hardly be offering to read a catechism in your spare time. And you wouldn't be worried about those in your family."

"I hope you are right." He said. "I really do, because if that's the case I might be able to have my family back." He didn't think it was possible but hope wasn't about definites. It was about the uncertain. And just about everything in his life was uncertain. "What all do we need to do prepare for this exorcism and what will you need me to do?" It was going to be different, assisting a priest instead of working in unison with his brother.

"We will go over her medical file. And the report from the nice psychiatrist, who of course says she's multiple personality. Who just happens to speak fluent, vulgar Aramaic." Father Pavel said with a chuckle. "You will say the refrain as indicated in the book when I give the psalm. Hand me supplies. I've arranged for four strong members of her family to hold her down. Should one of them fail, you shall step in their place. You look like a strong boy, you should be able to do it."

He nodded. "I am... there are certain manifestations of my ... genetics. If I had to hold her down that way... would it interfere?" He didn't want to screw up in a bad way. So better to ask the questions before hand. He knew that it would be hard for family to deal with her in this state. It would be horrifying to them and that would make it hard for them to hold her.

Father Pavel sighed. "It might. Only because then the battle might shift to the demon versus you, instead of the demon versus the rescue of her soul. She will be restrained, thick leather straps, but I have seen them snap off. I've seen little possessed children break cow chains as if they were stems of a flower. Sit on her if you have to. As for hurting her, medicine has come a long way. Broken arms can be mended." It sounded harsh, but true. "Demons will use the threat of physical violence against the innocent they are holding to try to make us stop. But once it's begun, we cannot stop. Expect to be awake for at least three days."

Sam nodded "Okay." That he could handle. There had been many times that he had been forced to stay awake for days on end. It came with the job. This was going to be different. It wasn't exactly virgin territory but it was definitely not what he was accustomed to.

Father Pavel nodded and passed him the medical file to start reviewing it.

Meanwhile, in Texas, the 58 Impala was a brilliant idea. It kept Dean out of everyone's hair, and allowed everyone use of their cars. Not to mention it was hard for even Dean to get into trouble while buried in a wreck of a car. Which was probably more the point. So it wasn't surprising to find Dean under it, on it, or in it at any given point during the day. Or night when he couldn't sleep, which was more than he would admit to.

So when Bobby called, Dean had to roll himself out from under it and go to his cell. "Hey Bobby." He said and listened. "Wait, you know where he is? Where is he? No, I'm not accepting that he's in good hands. Tell me where he is! Bobby. Bobby. Bobby! Fine, I'm listening." Dean was silent as he listened to the message Bobby had for him, from Father Pavel, a man he didn't know. A message about his father. "Thank you." Dean said quietly and sat down on the step as he hung up.

Jack came outside, having heard Dean yelling into the phone. "What's up?" He asked, having learned quickly never to ask Dean if he were okay. The answer was always the same whether he was or not. But right now Dean looked shell shocked and that couldn't be good.

"Dad's not in hell." Dean said simply. "Probably got snatched right out from under the demon's clutches, but he's not in hell." That was one major weight lifted off. That his father was being tormented for all eternity because of him. That weight, it had been a crushing one for a long, long time.

"Reliable source for that information?" He asked, hoping that was the case because he didn't want Dean to fall under that weight again. He had enough hovering over him right now. "I hope so, cause that's really good news."

"Reliable as can be, short of asking the Devil or God for a current tenant list." Dean said as he rubbed his face for a moment. "That's excellent news. He deserves peace."

"Yeah... he does." Jack said. "So do you." He didn't have allot of feelings toward his father although he was glad that the man wasn't in hell. At least one of his parents was going to get a little peace. Ben wouldn't tell him his mothers final disposition, which meant it was pretty bad.

Dean nodded. He supposed everyone deserved peace of some sort. He just didn't see his coming any time soon. "So everyone happy they have their cars back?' He asked with a chuckle. He had to figure out a way to ease into another subject, that really wouldn't go over well, but he'd picked up some patterns in the paper.

"Yeah, actually we are. " Jack said with a chuckle. "It's nice to be able to do our own thing again without having to borrow someone else's car. So how is the Impala coming?"

"It's coming. Waiting on a few parts, then I can really get underway. Just stripping the useless stuff off right now. Some of the original is salvageable." Dean said. "But the waiting for the parts gives me time to do other things I guess." His wounds had just finally closed up. He felt better. The antibiotics were done. Time to get back to work, right?

"Oh yeah?" Jack asked. "What do you have in mind?" He was glad that Dean was sticking around. He had been afraid from the phone call that he was going to take off looking for Sam again. That was futile. Jack could see that even if Dean couldn't.

"Oh you know, the usual." Dean said. "Just some house outside Austin that doesn't seem to like people leaving, that sort of thing." He said quickly. "Gotta love houses. So I should decide on a color before I order the body. What do you think? Red?"

" A good dark blood red I think. " Jack said with a nod. "Not some sissy rosy red or bright candy apple red. So this house ... if it doesn't let people leave, what makes you so sure you can get out again?"

"Because I'm that good?" Dean said. "Or because I've done the research, on the area, the house and all the tenants on record, have this huge deep well of supernatural knowledge, not to mention an armory even the military would drool in awe over. The tank is on back order though."

Jack laughed a little. "Leave me the details before you go and a time limit before I have to come and get you." He said. He wouldn't take part in a hunt but he was willing to do rescues or mop up. "I start EMT classes tomorrow."

"Oh absolutely." Dean said. "Gotta have someone to practice your homework on, right? Still can't believe you're going through with this. I mean, you nearly passed out when you had to stitch me up. Though, give you credit where it's due, you did get better with the dressings."

"Hey, you hit me out of the blue with that one, and to be fair it's going to be a little easier when I have been trained to do it." He shook his head. "And you don't need to give me extra credit work, really. I can learn just fine at school so don't go out there and say 'oh hey, Jack could use practice on this one'. "

"You know, just trying to be helpful. I'm underappreciated." Dean said with a laugh. "I really am. But fine, I'll be careful, whatever that means, even though you take great joy out of taking the fun out of life."

"Okay... hospitals...not fun... pain in general... not my idea of fun. Trying to figure out where I am trying to take the 'fun' out of anything but what the hell." Jack said with a laugh. "So what else did Bobby have to say?"

"The son of a bitch knows where Sam is, won't tell me though." Dean said. "He's lucky he's in South Dakota and I'm in Texas, or I'd probably try to beat it out of him. The word being try, unfortunately. He's a tough old bastard." Dean said with a shake of his head. "I don't know, I feel like I'm going crazy, running in circles trying to get a lead on him."

"How does he know- "Jack shook his head. "Never mind, doesn't matter. He's probably just trying to protect you too. Tough life, being so loved." Jack said with a smile. "I know it's hard. But until you find a way to undo what's been done to him... maybe finding him isn't such a good idea."

"You know what Dad said to me. Watch out for Sammy. How the hell am I supposed to watch out for him if I don't know where he is?" Dean said, shaking his head. "I don't know, maybe you're right. Even if I find him, I can't do anything right now. And I haven't found anything. Yet. So what's on your agenda today? Anything I can mock?"

Jack laughed. "Nope. Just more of the same. Taking Kaylie to the movies tonight, debating if I should actually leave you alone right now. You and Ben tend to feed off each other in a not healthy way sometimes. I'll come home and you'll both be drunk on your asses and angsting like a couple of teenage girls."

"We do not angst." Dean said making a face. "We just drink. A lot. One of these days, I swear, I'm going to be able to out drink him. God, if Dad could see me now. The grand master plan of my life moved from killing a demon to out drinking one."

Jack laughed. "And if he is in heaven not hell, then he can." He laughed even harder "Probably sitting there with a bunch of other old crotchety dead hunters wondering what sort of mixed drink could lay a demon out cold."

"Yeah probably. Hopefully if they figure it out, they'll tell me." Dean said with a laugh. "So movies? You know, there are places you can have sex for free you know. A house, a car, any amount of undeveloped private land..."

"Dean, don't know how to break it to you but we actually watch the movie. Ben works nights.. I have sex in my own bed. But if you ever tell Kaylie I confirmed that... I will have to ... fail at kicking your ass." He knew that he wasn't up to taking on Dean now that he was healed. Martial arts training aside, it just wasn't the same as years of experience fighting for your life.

"Miserably, miserably fail." Dean said with a grin. "So guess you should try now, cause I already told her I know that Jack's a real boy after all." He said with a laugh. "About four days after I got here, I told her when she brought in lunch that if she really cared about my recovery, you two would keep it down."

Jack laughed at that. "She never told me a thing about that. Just to keep it down she didn't want anyone to know we were having sex in my room. As though people could have much doubt that we were going there after she tosses that whole I'm pregnant by tentacled aliens line at me."

"Dude, you blew that out of the water with your reaction. And man, it was classic. Wish I had a camera. Never seen someone so pale that was still alive." Dean said with a chuckle. "Then there was that whole can't form a complete sentence. Bro, if you ever do knock her up, it's going to kill you. I swear."

Jack blushed. "Yeah, that was ... pretty funny in retrospect. Nah, I will be ecstatic so long as I have a job that'll support us. Otherwise I will be happy, and worried as hell." He grinned. "Just a bit of a shock there. Just wait until some woman says 'Dean... I'm pregnant'." He told his brother. "Your brain will short circuit too. I promise you."

"Oh, they'd have to find me first." Dean said with an honest laugh. He wasn't sure most of the women he slept with knew his last name come to think of it. And up until now, he'd never stayed in any one area long enough for any pregnancy test to even come into the picture. "Think I'm safe from that."

"Yeah, well we'll see what happens, wont we?" Jack said getting to his feet. "I originally came out to tell you that you're welcome to join us for dinner if you want. Don't see much of you now that you've gotten settled into the studio."

Dean laughed. "Yeah, I know. Still fixing the place up." He said. Like putting actual walls in and things like that. "Yeah, I can do that. As long as the heat's not cranked up to 80. How did you grow up like that?" He asked, laughing. "Wait until he left and knock it back down?"

"Pretty much. Had a fan in my room, opened the windows in the winter." He laughed. "I got used to it, actually. It doesn't bother me so much anymore. He used to tell me that tigers live in much warmer climates than that. So I had to keep it warm for my tiger." He said with a laugh. "Guess Ben should be glad Mom didn't buy me a stuffed Siberian."

"That might have been the deal breaker." Dean said. "So what are we having for dinner?" He was good at multi tasking. Especially in his head. He could think of what to do next with the 58 Impala, what to do to the studio, and what to do about Sam. All at once.

"Kaylie made meatloaf." He said. "Ben brought home Corona, and I picked up an apple pie on the way home from work. Thank god it's my last day there." He said honestly. He loved playing games and had gotten the job in high school. It was well past time to move on.

"It's gotta rock having a guardian who owns a strip club and is never home after nine." Dean said with a laugh as he stood up. "Cause somehow I don't see Kaylie's mom," who he had met once, and who had been less than impressed with Dean until she got a flat tire, "letting you pretty much move in without actually moving in. Never mind the whole sex deal. Ooh, I can see her father with a shot gun now!" He teased.

Jack laughed. "And it wouldn't be to get me to marry her either. It would be or making sure I never touched her again." He shook his head. "They know it's going on... they have to... but they just don't want to admit it, I think."

"Nah, there's no fear of you not marrying her." Dean said. "Which is good. Someone's gotta break the curse I'm sure is hanging over the Winchester heads. Maybe you beat it by not having the last name? Who knows?"

"I don't know... don't think it has to do with the name... think it has to do with the line of work." He said as he opened the door to go inside. He wasn't sure how he felt about Dean getting back into the family business. Ben would flip, but at least it was an earth bound spirit not a demon or creature. Might make it easier for him to deal with. But Jack was worried that it was too soon for him to get back into it again.

"Dude, Dad was a regular Joe mechanic when my mom was killed." Dean said with a chuckle as he grabbed a beer out of the fridge.

"Then it's definitely the last name." Ben said as he sat at the table paying the bills. "Of course, I feel bad for everyone else out there with the last name of Winchester, seeing as it's not a unique, unheard of name. So great shot, you just cursed maybe thousands of innocent people."

"I hate bill paying day." Dean said with roll of his eyes.

Jack laughed. "Yeah, you would think he was a pauper or something as cranky as it makes him." He helped Kaylie bring the food to the table. "So don't even look at the thermostat tonight." He admonished with a grin.

"No, please. Touch the thermostat, I insist." Ben said, putting away the checkbook for the night. "It's actually been a while since I've killed anyone. Might even improve my mood."

"Yeah, until you have to clean it up." Kaylie said with a laugh as she sat down, now that the food was done.

"Fine. Jack, your brother gets to live for another day." Ben said, disappointed as Dean laughed.

+++++

Sam had taken over for one of the girl's family members early on in the process. Her leg had come free and just about taken the poor man's head off. Sam suspected that he was going to have a nasty case of whiplash. He held her leg down ignoring what she screamed at him, knowing it was just the demon talking. That it wasn't real. Well most of it wasn't, and what was, he couldn't afford to let matter.

They were in day three, Father Pavel's voice was hoarse, but strident as he recited the prayers above the girl's voice. Which had a strange timbre and tone to it, inhuman really. And saying vile things in various languages, but he kept going. What was coming out of her mouth wasn't important.

The room stunk of human waste and vomit, it was ice cold though the heat was on. All things he had warned Sam about. The demon was trying to make it as uncomfortable for them as possible. Assaulting every sense it could. Father Pavel felt like needles were piercing his skin, he could only imagine how Samuel felt. But there would be a time to worry about it, and it wasn't now.

Finally his voice rose to that of a thundering level, as he drove home the prayers, flicking holy water on her, red welts raising where it had hit bared skin, adding to the stench of the room burning flesh.

"In the name of the father, the son and the holy spirit," he said, making the sign of the cross, "I expel thee. With the power of the father, the son and the holy spirit, I expel thee." The girl spit at him, globs of phlegm sticking to his face. Father Pavel didn't wipe it off until he was done with that section of prayer. Then he calmly wiped it away with a tissue and threw the tissue aside. "Demon, you have no place here."

"You are failing, Priest." The demon taunted. "You have the enemy in your midst. You give me the means to hang on."

Sam flinched at that. He had wondered if that were the case, if he was the problem but he stood his ground anyway. He wouldn't let the priest down. This was his chance to earn his way back, even if he failed he had to try, and Winchesters didn't give up on anything easily. He clenched his teeth to keep from saying anything at all. He felt as though his entire body were on fire, and he wondered if it were the demon's doing and not the ritual itself. He had never felt this way during an exorcism before, not even when he had been the possessed one. Was this because of the power flowing from the priest? Was this what it would be like every time?

So be it.

"God forgives all that seek it." Father Pavel said serenely, but with force as he approached the bed, drawing the cross on the girl's forehead. "God is a forgiving god, our Father would like nothing more than to be reunited with all his children, if they will just come to him." He proceeded to draw the sign of the cross on every bit of exposed flesh, ignoring the screams. "The damned are damned because they choose to be damned. The repentant shall be granted entry into the kingdom of Heaven with open arms as the angels sing around them. God will welcome you home, even you Demon, if you just confess your sins and embrace the loving arms of the Holy Spirit." Then he backed away. "Or you can burn in the hell fires of damnation. But you will leave this body."

"Not until it draws its last breath. The girl is mine, and she will join me in hell when I go, Exorcist, and there is nothing you can do about it." The girl's face turned to look at Sam. "Pain is just pain, Samuel. It doesn't endear you to God to endure it. "

Sam's jaw clenched, but he said nothing. It was just talk. That's what he told himself anyway. He wouldn't believe that he was going through this for nothing. Wouldn't change his chosen path, but it gave him hope to think that God would see and know what it cost him. Maybe earn a little mercy when the time came.

"His son Jesus endured the pain of crucifixion so that we may find redemption." Father Pavel said. "So that we all may be saved, including the soul of this child." Then he took a breath and dove back into the ritual. He had no fear, from his first exorcism when he was a young man right through this current one, he started each ritual knowing it could so easily be his last.

The hours wore on, turning into yet another day, until every muscle in Sam's body burned and ached. The incense burned his lungs, and even though it didn't burn him, the occasional splash of holy water that touched his flesh stung. His fate had never felt more real than it did in that moment. It took effort to stay awake. The exhaustion coupled with pain was almost overwhelming. He was in awe of the priest as he continued, presenting himself with such power and authority that it didn't seem possible he had been fighting the demon for days.

On the fifth day, it ended. It ended with a whisper. "Mommy..." She whispered through cracked lips. The temperature in the room returned suddenly to normal. So vast a temperature change that sweat broke out under Father Pavel's collar. Most of the stench, the unholy part, dissipated. And the girl was frightened.

"Release her!" Father Pavel said, moving around the men and wrapping her in a blanket. "Someone go get her mother." Who could tend to the more personal needs of this child, like bathing. "My name is Father Pavel, and everything's going to be all right now."

Sam sighed in relief and backed away from the bed sinking to the floor, as one of the relatives went to get the girl's mother. The room seemed to spin around him and he leaned back against the wall, taking a long deep breath. Afraid to close his eyes for fear of falling asleep instantaneously. He had felt the difference, or at least he thought he had. In the past, he had always seen the demon boiling forth and fading into nothing. This was different. It was very different.

Father Pavel nodded to Sam, it was over. And returned to comforting the girl. "Shhh...everything is all right now, it is over. Your mother is coming, you will get cleaned, you will eat, and you will sleep." He said as he stroked her hair. Tomorrow would also be a visit with a counselor. The girl's mother came in, and Father Pavel released the girl, kissing her on the forehead as he stood up stiffly.

"I know you." She said suddenly, looking at the priest with wide eyes. "I was trapped in the dark, and you found me."

The priest nodded with a peaceful smile. "God be with you, child." He said softly as he relinquished her to her mother. "Samuel, I hear a hotel shower calling my name. Perhaps we should leave now?"

Sam nodded and pushed himself up to his feet, only to take two steps forward and collapse to the floor, unconscious. He had taken quite a beating over the last 5 days, Body and soul were worn and ragged and as much as he had wanted to make it out of the room and to the hotel before collapsing in an exhausted heap, his body just wasn't up to cooperating.

"Perhaps some help, gentlemen?" He asked. The family members had rotated in and out. They hadn't had to undergo what Father Pavel and Sam had. "We are booked at a local hotel. Some sleep, he will be as right as rain." He said. The men helped Father Pavel bring Sam to the hotel and put him on the bed. Father Pavel took off Sam's shoes and covered him up with the blankets, ordering room service food that would be fine hot or cold, whenever Sam woke up.

Then he ate half of it, took a shower, devoted himself to prayers, before crawling into his own bed. Some days he felt he was far too old for this life.

Jack got the spare key from the junk drawer in the kitchen and headed up the stairs to the studio Dean was living in over the garage. The Impala had been parked in the driveway for two days, but he hadn't seen Dean. He had figured the first day was understandable, time to recover, but now he was getting worried. He rapped on the door. "Dean?" He called out.

"What?" Dean called out. He was in the bathroom. He was still in the bathroom. He'd been in there since he'd gotten back. After pulling over several times. Because no way was he puking in his car. Not his baby! God he felt like shit. And if Jack thought he was getting off the bathroom floor, where he was hanging over the toilet, the kid had another thing coming. He even had bunched up towels for when he could rest. Which turned out to be a total of forty five minutes in the whole two days he'd been home. The only time he got off the floor was to get on the toilet right now.

Besides, the bathroom floor was nice and cold...

Jack unlocked the door and entered. "Man, what's wrong?" He asked as he opened the windows. The place was stuffy, and it definitely smelled like the flu in there, so the question was more rhetorical than anything else. "How long have you been sick?"

"Dude, I'm fine." Dean said before retching again. There wasn't anything in his stomach anymore, probably not even stomach acid. It was dry heaves, and dry heaves were the worst. "I don't know, since about day two into my extreme home make over of Hell House." He said and leaned his head against the toilet seat. Because that too was cold. He felt like he was back in Ben's living room, when Ben would get on his kick of having it near 100. Except cold at the same time. "I'm fine."

"Yeah, man, I can tell. Several days of puking your guts up... not fine." He said coming into the small bathroom and looking his brother over. Seriously not good. He got a wash cloth and wet it down handing it to him. "I'll be back in a few minutes." He knew better than to get him to move. He didn't think he could get him far from the toilet at this stage anyway. "Don't suppose you have anything like phenergan or compazine in you med kit?"

"Nope. Took it all." Dean said, wiping his face with the washcloth. "Even tried some of that ativan stuff, used to drug Sam to sleep sometimes after Jess died. He had nightmares." He said. "Supposed to help with the whole vomiting thing...no go." He put the washcloth down and draped his arms over the toilet. "Don't suppose you're going to get my gun and shoot me? Would be appreciated right now."

Jack was really worried now. "Dean... is it possible for the ghost to have made you sick somehow? Could that be why none of the meds have worked?" He really didn't like asking that question because it meant that it might be possible and he didn't know how to fight that.

"Possibly. I guess." Dean said, his voice echoing over the toilet bowl. "Never heard of it. Guess it could happen. Or I could just be sick. Oh god." He said and retched again. "So, gun?" He wasn't seriously suicidal, but dude, this sucked.

"No gun." He said and ran his hand through his hair. "I'm a lousy shot and I doubt you could lift it right now. Okay... I will go see if I can't come up with something to help with the nausea, but man... if we can't ... I gotta get you to a doctor cause dehydration is so not the way to go."

"Can't go to the doctor." Dean said, ever hyper vigilant about being arrested. "Unless you drive me way out of town, cause I can't exactly use an alias in this town. Could see him on the corner or whatever. Dude, I'm fine. It'll pass. This just sucks." And now he had to worry about it being a supernatural virus instead of a superhuman virus.

"Well if you haven't stopped in the next 24 hours or it gets worse I'll drive you into Oklahoma if I have to." Jack said and headed out the door. If the prescriptions weren't helping he would have to just work hard at getting something into him to bring up his fluids and make him as comfortable as possible. Maybe make him sleep for a while. He had a feeling he hadn't been able to keep the meds down long enough for them to work.

He headed back into the house and looked for Ben. "I think I am going to need a crash course in larceny." He told him.

"Excuse me?" Ben said, lowering the volume on the television. All these humans took it for granted. It still amazed him, the moving picture in the box. He was a sports addict now, especially in the box. Nearly beat live seats, because the camera would zoom in, and there were replays! "And here I was, sitting here under the impression that I had raised a good, upstanding, law abiding citizen." Hmm. Maybe he'd open a sports bar.

"Dean is sick, can't take him to a local doctor because of the alias problem, can't stop throwing up, can't keep down the meds to make him stop throwing up... he needs an IV for fluids and meds I can put in the IV but they don't just sell those somewhere that I can get them legitimately. So unless you want to fight with a surly puking Dean and take him somewhere they won't recognize him for medical treatment... I gotta get the stuff locally and do it myself."

Ben sighed. "You realize that there is an Alias marathon coming up, right?" Sometimes he got into moods where he would watch TV for hours. "He probably picked up an STD or something, I'm sure there's one that makes you projectile vomit. We should let him suffer, so he learns the error of his ways and at least starts using condoms." Ben didn't know, or care really, if Dean practiced safe sex or not. Or even if he had sex at all. But dammit there was an Alias marathon.

"Ben... they have Alias out in DVD now... I'll go and get you a season of it if you help me. Other wise you know you will have to come and bail me out of jail cause I suck at being a Winchester."

Ben rolled his eyes and reluctantly turned the television off. "I cannot believe I'm missing Jennifer Garner in latex and a push up bra so you can go steal medical supplies." He said as he shook his head. "I told you your brother was nothing but trouble. So, what? I sneak you into a supply room at a hospital and then we're done?"

"Yeah, shouldn't take long at all. Might be back before the next commercial break." He said hopefully. "So long as we don't get spotted... maybe it should be a hospital no where around here... " Just in case they were spotted and he could be recognized later on.

"Fine." Ben said and put his hand on Jack's shoulder. "Michigan far enough away?" He said as they appeared in a utility room in some random hospital. Ben went to stand by the door, leaning against it. "So why are we being nice to him again? Before he left on this last adventure of his, I woke up with my air conditioning on."

"Because he is my brother, and I love him. " Jack said. "And you told me I could keep him." He took a deep breath "Okay... now on to find the supplies." He said reaching for the door then stopping and looking around for a box of plastic gloves "I can't believe I am doing this." He said as he pulled a pair on, knowing that he was going to be finger printed at some point in the process of getting his licenses. Too much access to controlled substances.

Ben sighed. "I'll distract the nurses." He said and left the room. Pretending to be a visitor of some random patient, who was luckily in a coma, and turning on the charm. He could be quite charming and personable when he wanted to be. Slipping the keys to the med box out of the pockets of one of them and passing them to Jack. Because one didn't live for five hundred or so years and have absolutely no experience with larceny.

Jack was freaking out the whole time he went about the process of lifting the saline, and then the medications. He wasn't a thief any more than he was a hunter. It was completely weirding him out that he had to do this, but he would in order to help his brother. He almost forgot the syringes and the IV kits as well, barely remembering as he reached for the door. He made sure things were tucked away securely in his jacket pockets, blissfully large, and slipped back out and slipped the keys back to Ben.

Ben slipped the keys back into the nurse's pocket and tied up his conversation as Jack walked past. Then made excuses and grabbed Jack's arm, taking him into the stairwell. "Okay, are we done being criminals now?" Ben said. "Because stealing really isn't that much fun without a completely hot sidekick in something completely inappropriate for the job at hand. And you're really not the sidekick I was looking for."

"Believe me I am so through." Jack said, not understanding how Dean could have made it through life with larceny as his primary form of support. It was an insane way to live. He was going to have nightmares about the police coming to arrest him, he was sure, but it would be worth it if it worked to patch Dean up. "So let's get home so you can get back to your Jennifer Garner fantasies and I can move on to practicing medicine without a license."

"You're spoiled." Ben said. "Completely inoculated to the miracle that is television." He shook his head and transported them back to the house and sat down on the couch. "Moving pictures with sound I can tape, stop, fast forward, rewind, pause. Slow motion. When I was your age, we used to watch people fight and joust and kill each other for fun. Throw really big sticks and stones. It could get messy for the audience. Look, I can watch Jennifer Garner blow up a building, and I don't have to pick anything up! It's fantastic!"

"Wow... that's not something you hear every day... enjoy." He said as he grabbed his text books and hurried back to his brother. "Hey, how ya doin'?" He asked.

Dean was curled up in the fetal position on the bathroom floor. "Super." He mumbled. "I think I'm better now. If I don't move."

"Well I am going to need you to come out of the bathroom. I have the things to set up an IV, but I need room to work. "

"Dude, did you not just hear the don't move part?" Dean said. "You're just as bad as Sam, and just as much a pain in my ass. Course he thinks he's evil. Are you evil too? Think I'd take two evil brothers over the flu."

"Yeah well, the jury is still out on the evil part. Ben thinks I am because I interrupted his Jennifer Garner fix. " He said rolling his eyes. "Okay. Straight up, I have never done this before and I would really rather do it somewhere less cramped. So in the interest of giving you two evil brothers and no flu, I am going to get you into your bed. If you puke on me I promise not to hit you until you can hit back." He said as he moved to pull his reluctant brother to his feet, even if he had to support 90 percent of the weight himself.

It was an upward struggle. Once he was standing, he was dizzy, which meant nauseous, which meant back on his knees over the toilet. Then over the sink. Then over a wastepaper basket. Then he finally flopped on his bed and barely resisted the urge to curl back into a ball. Because that would mean moving, and the walls were already spinning. Jack had a tenuous grip on him the entire time, Dean's skin was slick with sweat from his fever, and he swayed dangerously on his feet.

"Told you...I'd end up your practice dummy." He said.

"Yeah, well, I'm sorry in advance." He said as he prepared the IV kit and opened his text book. "Cause you are dehydrated, and I am inexperienced so ... this is going to be an adventure." He double checked everything that he had there and found something to hang the IV bag from, then settled into place to look for his brother's veins. Which were hiding. His only clues were the scars from previous IVs. Some still newer than he liked. Eventually he opted for Dean's hand, then undid the tourniquet for a moment to get things flowing again, then tied it back in place tightly. "Okay." He said a little shakily and took a deep breath and held it before attempting to place it in the vein in the back of Dean's hand. "I'm sorry." He repeated as he fished for it, then with a frustrated sigh, removed the needle and bent it. "We're going to have to try the other hand." He swallowed hard, hating that he had to do this to his brother. He would much rather take him to the hospital but that wasn't possible.

"Dude, take a deep breath. Relax." Dean said calmly, if a little out there. "Believe me, I've got veins, else I'd be dead right? And unless you're talking to dead people, I'm alive, so I've got veins." He waited until the tourniquet was tied around his other arm and started balling and relaxing his hand. "Doesn't even hurt." His stomach took care of that problem. And he was so hot on top of it. "Just take your time. And just think how you're going to majorly impress your teacher when you get to this part of the course."

Jack took a deep breath as instructed. Relaxing was something else entirely. "This must be the crash course in being a Winchester. This is my second criminal act in one day. I think this one gets a higher sentence... practicing without a license." He said as he slowly inserted the needle into Dean's arm and sighed in relief as it bled back. "Okay..." he breathed and started working, slowly on setting everything up. Triple checking if there were air bubbles, then checking once again before connecting everything together and once more before letting the liquid flow into his brother's veins. "Okay... I have an anti nausea med that I am going to start giving you. Once I check the dosage." He said as he looked that up. "I'm serious. This is serious jail time if I get caught so you better never tell Kaylie, she will kill me."

"What's that? Phenergan? Start me off at 12.5. Zofran? Give me the full eight. Ativan? One milligram should be good." Dean said. "Come on, Dad, you know that stuff. Must be getting slow in your old age." Dean joked weakly as he closed his eyes. His fever was sky high, and Jack sounded so much like John. "Don't start on the lecture, not now. I know what I gotta do, and I can't do it being lazy in the bed. Gotta find Sam. I mean, I found Jack. So one half is done. He's a good kid, probably better off he wasn't with us, he'd probably be as screwed up as us if he was."

Jack waited a heart beat before giving him the amount Dean indicated. It was insane that he knew that. "Just checking to see how far gone you are." Jack said, not wanting to freak out his delirious brother. Great... delirious. "But you aren't going anywhere until you are better. I'm not carrying you around the country side looking for Sam. He'll be fine for now." He could only imagine how John would be in this situation. He had heard the stories of his gruff and all business father. But he had seen the way the man had stood, for days watching out the window for his sons... his other sons. The sons that mattered.

"Dad, you're not dragging me anywhere." Dean said, sadly. "You're dead. You died because of me. Sam left because of me. Probably managed to fuck up Jack's life somehow, because of me. You should have let Maggie kill me when you had the chance, things would be a lot simpler now. I know they would be. You would be alive, maybe you could have saved Sammy. Maybe gotten up the guts to track down Jack yourself."

"Sam left because he couldn't sort out his ass from a hole in the ground. Thinks he is being tough when he is still a scared little boy." He said figuring out the dose for the anti-infective, just in case. "And if you weren't around do you really think he would have lasted as long as he has?" Jack asked, not really pretending to be John at this point, just not breaking the illusion either.

Dean laughed. "He got pushed over the edge because of me. I don't know how yet, but I'll figure it out. Just like I figured out that you made a deal with the yellow eyed bastard so I would wake up. I told him, Dad. I told Sammy what you told me, I promised I wouldn't, and I did. He needed to know. We should have known about Jack long before we did. You can be such a bastard sometimes. I don't understand anything. Sammy's the smart one, I'm just the...I don't even know what I am. I should get out of here before I ruin Jack's life, he seems to have a pretty good one."

"You are part of that life now, you stay put. Don't you give up and make these sacrifices for nothing." He didn't know how to respond to all of this. He just knew he couldn't let his brother get it in his head to leave. " I need you to stay."

"Jack...he can take care of himself. Even if he couldn't, he's got a fire breathing guardian demon." Dean said then chuckled. "Guardian demon, do you know how ridiculous that sounds? Cute girlfriend too. If she were a few years older..." He chuckled again. "But she's not so don't worry. No big rivalry over girls between us. But dammit, Dad, you put all this on me. It's been on me since I was ten years old. I didn't ask for any of this, you did this. Now I gotta give up?"

"It shouldn't have been put on you, and I am not asking you to give up, just get well first. You won't do Sammy any good passing out and puking up your guts." He sighed. "And there are more reasons to be needed than as a body guard, Dean."

"You're right, you're right." Dean said. He couldn't drive like this. He couldn't even open his eyes. "I'll fix it, Dad. I'll fix everything like you told me to. I'll watch out for Sammy, I'll look after Jack. Then, when they don't need me anymore, we can finish that poker game."

"They are always going to need you." Jack said and shook his head. He regretted every moment he ever spent wishing he had known his father. He didn't sound like someone he wanted to know. Ben had been his father. And a good one. It was time to put away childish delusion. He had seen love in the man's eyes when he had looked at the son's he had raised, he had seen his despair when they were lost in the darkness. He had never imagined the damage that would be done to them by the same man.

"Get Jack all settled down, get Sammy all settled down, I'll get to fade into the background." Dean said with a sigh. "It's all right, Dad. It's not what you imagined when you did what you did. I know. I know about that, I know...more than you think I do. And it's all right. I'm just so tired of all the balls in the air. I drop one, I might drop them all. And I dropped one. I'm sorry."

"It hasn't hit the ground yet, Dean. You haven't failed. And some things were never yours to control. You can't make Sam do anything he doesn't want to do. Hell, no one can make Sam do what he doesn't want to do. You have get better, and you have to make a life for yourself that doesn't revolve around your brothers. Involving them and revolving around them are two different things."

"I'm getting better." Dean said. "Jack's practicing on me...thinks he should take care of me or something. Gotta be an only child thing, cause damn, everyone else knows I'm the caretaker..."

Ben came in, he'd seen the episode currently playing, to check on Jack. And caught part of the conversation. "Maybe you should ice him down before his brain fries. Of course, we're talking Dean's brain, so we might not be able to notice the difference."

"Let's get him into the tub. " He laughed at that. "Yeah, and I just got him out of the bathroom." He shook his head. But cold water was better than ice. Especially since it was a more readily renewable resource. He picked up the IV bag "Dean... I know you are going to shoot me, but we gotta get you back into the bathroom. Ben is going to help us."

"Shoot? Where's my gun?" Dean said as Ben picked him up. Easily. Because, well, contrary to appearances, he wasn't human. "Oh dude, I'm gonna hurl."

"And I'll drop you." Ben said as he nodded for Jack to go as they walked. Then they started the cold water, faucet and shower, to a sputtering, bitching, threatening Dean's dismay.

"Yeah I know, man." He said "But you drink too much to waste brain cells to the fever. They're at a premium." He said as they kept him in the water. Didn't take that much effort, it was protecting the IV that was the hardest part.

"Didn't know drowning was part of the treatment..." Dean said before his head lolled back. Ben caught his head before the back of it whacked itself on the wall.

"Don't worry, it's normal." Ben said. "Plus, it means he'll be quiet for a while."

Father Pavel looked at Sam. The poor child was drained. Perhaps the Exorcist's Tour of the Delta wasn't such a good idea after all. Father Pavel on the other hand, he was fine. This was his life's work after all. He liked to think he was running on a mix between good old fashioned Russian stubbornness and God's will. A powerful combination if there ever was one.

"Child, if you need to sit this one out, you can. Not a one will think less of you." He said as he flipped through the medical file of the next case.

"No, I'm going along. Where are we going next?" He asked, getting himself another cola from the small refrigerator in their hotel room. This was very much like his life before. The change in companions was ironic but it was much as it had always been. Only now there was a great deal more pain, more exhaustion. But he would endure it if that was what it took to keep his soul grounded.

"A little town I can't pronounce." He said with a laugh. Because it had a Native American name, though it was pretty white bread these days. Just the combination of the letters was beyond his natively Slavic tongue. "You do not need to attend every exorcism." He said gently. "Even I've been known to turn down one or two for my own physical health."

"Not really sure I should take the time off." He didn't know how much time he had after all. He had allot of purging to do to even come close to undoing what he had done himself to his soul, much less the taint brought on by the demon.

"You can't do this for yourself." Father Pavel said patiently. "It has to be about the soul we're saving, and right now it's not your soul. Doing it for any other reason, it can countermine the whole thing."

"It's not that... not just that anyway." He said. He would have to be even less human than he was for it not to be partly about himself as it was. "I don't know. Guess I am just at odds and ends right now." It had been like that since he had left Texas much less Chicago. It was being without his brother that was tearing him apart inside. "I don't know... I could find something else to do I guess. I don't want to undermine the exorcism. " Maybe he could find another hunt...or... take a little trip on his own.

"Like perhaps study all the material I have provided for you?" Father Pavel suggested. "Catechism perhaps? The next exorcism? Church law and doctrine? Papal declarations?" Father Pavel was giving Sam a crash course on 2000 years of Church history.

Sam nodded. "I can do that." He said. He was a quick study after all, and a thought was forming in his mind on what else he could get up to while he was at it. It wouldn't take anything more than a blink of the eye to get to St. Louis or Baltimore after all, although he wasn't sure why that had come to mind all of a sudden.

"Good." Father Pavel said. "When I was first starting out, I had maybe two or three a year." Of course when he was starting out, there were many more exorcists. It lightened the load. Now there was just perhaps a handful remaining. The load was heavier now. And the rate of possessions was increasing.

"Storm is coming. There used to be just a handful of possessions a year that hunters would come across. Couple years ago when we started trying to fight the demon directly one of our friends knew of 27 in one year. And that's just the ones that he personally knew about. There were probably dozens more. It's preparing for a war, Father."

"Yes, it is." Father Pavel said, nodding gravely. "We've been slowly preparing for it since the first appearance of Our Lady of Fatima. Those of us that have been privy to the final prophecy of Our Lady have known. Not the kindly one released for the public, to discourage the conspiracy hounds."

"Prophesy? What prophesy is that?" He asked, with a slight frown. He didn't like the sound of that. Too many variables with prophesy... he knew a thing or two about visions. And prophesy was nothing more than a vision written down for posterity. How many nightmares were prophesy? How much prophesy was nothing but a nightmare that wouldn't leave?

"The three messages Our Lady gave to three little girls in Portugal in 1917." Father Pavel said. "The third was not released until 2000, but it wasn't the whole message, because there had already been such controversy and cries of conspiracy about it. Telling the masses that Our Lady, Virgin Mother of our Savior, was telling us to prepare for war, the end of times, is more than most people can handle. But she did. So we are. I should have retired long ago. And the priests nowadays, their heads are so full of modern babble and noise, they can't accept what is in front of their faces. God gives us miracles everyday, but they have trouble accepting the evil takes them away just the same. Fooled by the new Vatican, into thinking God is a benevolent creature who loves us all equally and will protect us always. Free will comes with a price, and that price is self preservation."

Sam nodded. He whole heartedly agreed with that assessment. "We have a lot of sheep out there, well meaning, basically good sheep, and very few guard dogs against the wolves." He had often felt as though it was him and his brother out there trying to save the world, when even the other hunters wouldn't see the reality of what was going on.

St. Louis... there it was again. "Father... have you ever had something nagging at you out of the blue... something you couldn't shake... "

"Many times." Father Pavel said. "Usually I follow up on it, or else it will eat at me until I do. What's nagging you, child?"

Sam explained the incidents with the law to the priest. The shape shifters, and Dean's predicament because of it. "It's like its come out of the blue, I have always known it was there but it's like... I don't know. I feel like I need to go and... fix it somehow."

"Then go fix it." Father Pavel said with a nod. "I can cope very easily with the rounds coming up. I've worked with this priest before. You should help your brother while you can. And God thinks you can now, or it wouldn't be on your mind."

"How can I be sure it's from God, and not the other one?" He asked. "All of my visions ... they seem to be about helping others but they have all been about sucking me in deeper into this trap." Sam said as he got up and got his jacket. He would do it no matter who it came from, but he still wanted to know.

"Because the demon would not want you to help your brother. Not after trying to kill him so many times." Father Pavel pointed out. "Because clearing your brother's name and allowing him to rejoin normal society is counteractive to all his plans, when you think about it."

Sam smiled then. Probably the first genuine smile the father had ever seen on the younger man's face. "You think you will be here long? Or should I pack up my gear too?" He asked. He didn't know if Dean would ever actually join normal society. He had never been a part of it in the first place, but who knew? It might work out with Sam no longer in his life. Genuinely out of his life anyway. And it wasn't going against his bargain. He wasn't in any direct communication with Dean about this. Hell, he wasn't in indirect communication.

"I anticipate being in this hotel for a week." Father Pavel said. "IF you have not returned by then, I will have your belongings packed, you have my cellular number to, how do the kids put it, 'catch up with' me." Father Pavel said. "It is all right."

Sam nodded. "Shouldn't take that long but... you never know." He said. "I'll see you when I am done." He told him as he exited the hotel room and entered the nearest shadow. Best to start where it had all begun to go downhill for Dean. St. Louis. He had to get into the police station, without being seen, or leaving evidence, and remove all evidence. Including computer records. That was going to be the tricky part.

It proved easier than he had thought it would. At least the physical evidence. A few dozen boxes of files and supposed physical evidence dumped into the shadows. The computers ... that took time. There was a lot of phasing in and out and hoping that no one came to the room where he had found the available terminal. One thing for sure, he never would have been able to pull it off in his normal state.

He settled in at the computer and pulled up Dean's name, and with a little finagling was able to get a list of all the files on Dean in the system... on all the police systems. They shared apparently and when Diana had been investigating him for murder, she and St. Louis had started the process of gathering all the information on him. He had a lot more places to go to make this complete. It took a little to sort out the main computer's directory and delete all the information on Dean found within.

"Okay... next." He said before heading to Baltimore to do the same.

Diana Ballard was coming into the evidence room to look up evidence on another case. Completely unrelated to Dean Winchester and his brother. But she saw Sam there and nearly screamed. "Sam!" She said in hushed whisper as she moved against the door, to stop anyone else from coming in. Because she owed Sam. "What are you doing here? In the evidence room? How'd you get here?"

"How isn't really something you want to know... As for what... I'm putting a few things to rest. But it looks like it's already been taken care of." He said indicating the missing files. This was not something he had anticipated.

"Well, your brother was cleared of everything on our end, so we moved it to the solved cases." Diana said, watching Sam. "Just the mention that he was initially a suspect, and then was cleared by...Pete's...confession." Still a difficult topic for her. "Where is Dean?" She asked. Those two were a pair. "Do I have to save some innocent secretary from him?" She said with a weak smile.

"No. Dean isn't here. We aren't traveling together anymore." He said honestly. "So there is nothing here to really incriminate Dean of anything other than... escaping..." he asked. "Tell me that won't come back to haunt him if someone is looking for a reason."

"He escaped? I don't remember that." Diana said with an innocent, wide eyed expression. "I can't recall a Dean Winchester at all. I remember my partner confessing to the murder of three people, and then I remember shooting him...must be that post traumatic stress disorder. I have no idea what you're talking about."

Sam grinned then. "Thank you. So... you want some coffee or... harmless innocent friendly dinner?" He wasn't into women his father's age, no matter how cute or helpful. Not to mention women with him usually wound up dead.

Diana chuckled. "Sure. There's a diner down the road, McGovern's. Meet me there. Because I don't want to know how you got in here without anyone seeing you." She said. "Give me fifteen minutes." She said and grabbed the case file she needed and left.

Sam took a few deep breaths, and turned out the light, then slid through the darkness to the diner. "Using that can't be good... no sir... can't be good at all." He waited for his stomach to settle down then headed into the restaurant and got a table for two.

Diana joined him a few minutes later and put in their order for coffee. "So...Sam. Never thought I'd see either of you boys again. I've kept track of Dean, well, his wanted profile. No new charges at least. Staying off the radar, that's good." She said.

"Since Milwaukee anyway." He said with a laugh. "Just trying to make sure that if he gets back on the radar he isn't executed for it." Sam said as he took a drink of the coffee he had ordered previously.

"I saw that on the news. Nearly put a dent in my forehead when I slapped myself. The whole 'what are those two boys thinking?' sort of thing." Diana said with a laugh. "Was an intense manhunt out for you two for a while there. It's still there, but it's died down. Not as newsworthy anymore or something."

Sam explained how that one had gone down. "Oh the fed is still out there looking. He's a pit bull that one. Doesn't give up. I think I know why. He has a little birdie trying to give him information to save himself. But we...I… will have to sort out how to deal with that later on I guess. A little harder to deal with than files and computer records. So how are things going for you? You doing okay?"

"I'm good." Diana said. "I'm still with homicide. I was on leave for six months, but I was cleared. They called it a good shoot. I'm just...living life I guess. One day to the next, take it any more than that and it gets confusing." Something should bother her about this, that Sam and Dean weren't coming as Sam and Dean. No sign of Dean, and Sam was evasive about it.

"Can I ask a favor? If it's over stepping, that's okay and I'll... sort out a way to take care of it. And no it isn't why I asked you to coffee. Really wanted to find out how you are doing. We left you in a pretty rough situation. But I was wondering if you could scour references to Dean from the solved case files. " It was a lot to ask. He didn't want to do it but it would be easier if she were to do it.

"You want me to alter official case files?" Diana asked, nearly amused, then grinned. "Well, I guess I could. Wouldn't want the files to contradict my unfortunate memory lapses." She said. "The confession tape, I don't know. It was pretty out there," though she now knew the truth, "some of the rookies play it for shits and giggles. Usually they're drunk though, and they're not supposed to watch it anyway."

"If it's taken out that much, should be easy to make it disappear with out too many questions " He said with a chuckle as he shook his head. Dean was something else when he got in a mood that was for certain. Pressure from authority tended to bring out his sarcasm in spades.

"True. So it'll disappear by tonight." Diana said. "Sam...what's going on? You forget I'm a detective. I even like to think I'm good at my job."

"Dean was hurt not too long ago... " Sam sighed. "Kidnapped and tortured because of me. He couldn't even stay in a hospital long enough to completely recover because of the warrants out for his arrest. I can't let that happen again. "

It made sense to Diana. Dean was recovering some place where he couldn't be arrested. And it probably should have been a hospital. "I'm sorry." She said about Dean's ordeal. "I'll take care of everything on my end. There will be no record of Dean Winchester in our system at least."

"Thank you." Sam said sincerely. "I can deal with the rest. St. Louis is already taken care of." He told her. "Ahm... keeping my distance from Dean for a while... making sure he stays safe that way. This just... seemed like the only way to make up for a little of it."

"And I was sleeping better at night knowing you boys were out there somewhere." Diana said, just as honestly.

"Oh, neither of us have given up the family business. I'm just a little more specialized these days. Dean is hanging out with our younger brother right now while he recovers completely. Or I hope he is recovering completely."

"I'm sure he is. If there are restraints and threats involved." Diana said with a laugh. She was sure this was just a temporary separation between the two of them. Or else the world might not make sense. Those two...once she got back to the station house, she was moved to call her own brother.

Sam continued on his quest, succeeding even in Langley, before going back to the hotel room to await the priest, and perhaps get a little rest. The nagging sensation had ceased the moment he had destroyed the last file on his brother. Whatever he had been meant to accomplish with it, had been accomplished. He thought of letting Bobby know what he had done but then Dean would get careless again. Better to save that information until it was needed.

The demon appeared in the room, no more substantial than a puff of smoke but taking on human form anyway. "You really do have a way of screwing yourselves over, you Winchesters. Then again, maybe it was some latent desire to see me flay your brother alive."

"Screw yourself. I didn't break our deal." Sam said eyeing the demon warily.

"I hate to disagree, but well... here you are having just cleared your brother's name. Focusing on Dean... looking back. "

"No... you said that I had to leave Dean behind. I have. I haven't made any sort of contact with Dean at all. Letter of the law." Sam said hoping the logic worked because otherwise he had cleared Dean's name for nothing more than a legit head stone.

"Do not play games with me, boy." He raged, and Sam was flung upwards, pinned to the ceiling. "I can make a hundred more like you in the blink of an eye."

"Guess that means I was right then." Sam said, gasping for breath against the force holding him firmly in place. Not sure if he wanted the demon to kill him and get it over with or not. He had just found hope again.

The demon dropped Sam, watching him hit the floor. "Watch yourself." He warned. "You think you want me to kill you, but if I do you will have company on your way to hell. Think of that the next time you push me."

"I'm not a demon yet. Still have my free will, remember?" Sam said when he was able to speak again. "Until I cross over I can do as I will, so long as I don't go to see my brother. You are closer to breaking our deal than I am... " he pushed himself up on shaking limbs. "And you don't have the power to condemn anyone to hell."

"I don't have to. Your god does that for me." The demon said with a snarky smirk. "Think of that with each passing exorcism, as they become more and more painful. It's not the loving hand of God you're feeling, it's His wrath."

"And I deserve it." He said. "I made a deal with a demon." He shrugged as he made his way to the bathroom to wash his face. "It's getting late. I'm going to bed. Don't forget to lock the door on your way out." He said. Dean wasn't the only Winchester with the gift of sarcasm. It was a survival skill as much as shooting and ritual latin.

"He needs to be in a hospital." Ben argued. Again. Dean's fever would break, only to come back. Packing him in ice hadn't helped. And Jack was having trouble finding another IV site on his brother. Then Dean developed a cough that rattled his chest. But that wasn't the worst.

The worst was the seizure brought on by the fever. Which only made Ben try to talk some sense into Jack more. After helping to hold Dean down so he didn't hurt himself, he looked at Jack. "Either you consent to me bringing him to the hospital," since this was Jack's brother, "or I'm calling an ambulance."


	6. Chapter 6

The doctors weren't discouraging so much as guarded. Dean was in rough shape and it could go either way. He should have seen a doctor sometime during the hunt, but Dean, being Dean, hadn't gone and now he was in a bad way. But they were certain that with the right treatment he would recover.

That didn't make Jack feel any better about it. Didn't make him stop twitching every time someone came to Dean's hospital room door. He knew how dangerous this was for Dean. How likely it was that he could be recognized. But all he could do was wait and hope that everyone kept their noses in their jobs and not on his brother's face.

After a few days, the nurses started getting jumpy, especially as Dean became a little more conscious and with it. It wasn't long before uniformed officers came into the room, federal marshals. Complete with their guns and handcuffs.

"We're...uh...we're moving him to a more secure location." The nurse informed Jack, not taking her eyes off the patient. Just in case he jumped out of bed and decided to cause trouble.

"What? Where are you taking him?" Jack asked. "Am I going to be able to go with him?" He didn't like this at all. Not one little bit. This was the one thing he had feared the most with bringing Dean to the hospital. "I don't understand." Better to play stupid at this point. When in doubt always play stupid. Because that was how he felt right about then and he didn't want to screw anything up for Dean. It was screwed up badly enough as it was.

"We're taking Mr. Winchester to another ward in the hospital." The marshal informed Jack coolly. "Then we'll have some questions for you." He handcuffed Dean to the bed and that's when Dean woke up.

"What the hell?" Dean said as he woke up, clearing his mind. He looked from his wrist to the handcuffs to the bedrail. Wonderful. Then he winked at the marshal. "Sorry, you're not my type." He said with a smirk.

"Mr. Winchester, you're under arrest under federal jurisdiction for murder, robbery, evading arrest and the assault of federal agents." The marshal said. "You have the right to remain silent. Anything you choose to say can and will be used against you. You have the right to an attorney..."

"Yeah, yeah. I got it." Dean said as he stared at the ceiling. "Jack, how about you see about getting me a lawyer?"

"Mr. Hsiao might be facing charges as well, harboring a fugitive." The marshal said, looking at Jack.

"Sure, that could work. But he didn't know I was a fugitive. He's not much for googling people he knows." Dean said. He tested the handcuffs. They were easy to pick if he had the chance. Then he'd get out and get on the road, he couldn't drag Jack into this whole mess, even if he was innocent.

"Yeah... I'll make sure about the lawyer... what the hell are you talking about? Fugitive? Dean, don't say another word until that lawyer gets here, you understand me .. not one smart assed word." He knew his brother. "I'll call Ben and get him on it now. Sounds like we are both going to need one." He wasn't under arrest. There was no restrictions on his communications as yet.

He opened up the cell phone and hit speed dial waiting for Ben to answer. If this lawyer route didn't go well then ... well... there was always a fiery exit from the jurisdiction. God, Ben was going to kill him.

"What's up Jack?" Ben said, answering the phone. He had everyone who called him regularly assigned to a specific ring tone. So he knew it was Jack calling, or at least Jack's cell phone.

"Yeah, yeah, I'll be a good boy." Dean said as he laid back against the pillow as his bed was wheeled out, flanked by marshals.

"We have one hell of a big problem. Dean is being wheeled out of here handcuffed to his bed. And they think he is some sort of fugitive...and that I have been harboring him. I think we both need a lawyer before this whole questioning process gets started. Do you think you can arrange that for us? " He was freaked and it showed in his voice.

"What? Jack, calm down. Take a deep breath." Ben said as he took one himself. "Great, fucking great. All right, all right. I'll get you guys a lawyer. Your brother really owes me. Okay, don't do anything. Don't go anywhere, don't say anything. Grab a soda, wait in the waiting area and keep your mouth shut. Do not say anything to anyone other than 'I'm fine' and 'my lawyer is coming' until the lawyer and I get there."

"Yes sir." He said. "I'll be waiting." He then hung up the phone. "I would like to go to at least the waiting room by where you are keeping my brother. Our attorney is on her way. " He said politely as he put away the cell phone. There was no way this could turn out good. But Ben would come through for him. He had absolute faith in Ben. Dean wasn't going to die in the electric chair, by lethal injection or gas chamber. Not while Jack had any hope of anything to say about it.

The officer led Jack to the waiting area. They'd invoked the right to have a lawyer so all questioning would have to wait.

Ben hung up the phone and shook his head. "Wonderful." He said and slid through flame to Regan Bruner's office. He knew her, and she was on the up and up of what was really out there. Which was what Dean needed, and by proxy Jack. "Regan. Long time. We need to talk." Ben said. He wasn't really one for small talk.

Regan closed her file and leaned back in her seat, looking Ben over. "And this isn't a social call." Ben wouldn't have shown up in her office in a blaze if it were a social call. A lawyer and a demon went into a bar... there was a joke there somewhere. "So what's going on?"

Ben chuckled a bit as he sat down. "First thing, I assure you I'm not drunk and this isn't a joke." He said. "Okay, Jack, you remember Jack? Well, he met up with his long lost brothers finally. One disappeared shortly after, but that's not important. The one that stuck around, Dean, well, he's in trouble. Apparently St Louis thinks he murdered a few people. Normally I'd say let him fry, but it wasn't him. Shape shifter. So he was on the run, as most wrongly accused are...I think there was a good movie about that a while back. Anyway, then he and his brother, the one that disappeared, got involved in a bank hold up, again, another shape shifter. This one he did kill, but it was a shape shifter. From what I understand, nailed him in the jewels too. For a man, that is a killable offense, all things being equal. So the feds wanted him after that...things went well. Stayed off the radar, until he got sick. My fault, I made Jack take him to the hospital before his brain fried and he died. The feds caught up with him, and are holding him in the lock down ward. Accusing Jack of harboring a fugitive, which, all right, he was. But that's besides the point. So, have any coffee?"

Regan raised an eyebrow and cocked her head a little. "Sure." She said and pressed a button on the intercom and asked her secretary to bring in two coffees and to get a few things set in motion and a local judge she knew very well on the phone. She wanted to make sure they didn't change venues on her, this was now a federal case, they had a perfectly good federal judge locally. "You know you couldn't say this to any other lawyer. That knowledge doesn't come cheap. We go a long way back, but not that far. He screws up once and my credibility goes down the drain. "

"I'll be honest. Dean Winchester is an arrogant, cocky son of a bitch. On top of that, he's a freaking hunter. But..." Ben sighed, "he's Jack's brother. And Jack's attached to him. Did a nice job on my oil change too. But in this instance, he's innocent. Wrong place, wrong time, wrong shape shifter. And if Dean's ever going to fry, I'll be the one to do it, not some judge some place."

"Well, I will be honest, this is a dangerous case to take. Too many things can be blown open wide. I will take the case for now. Meet with him. I will remain Jack's lawyer regardless, if it comes to the point where I feel it's getting too dicey, I'll claim conflict of interest and arrange for Dean to have another attorney not on the state payroll. I won't go down with the ship, Ben, not even for you. Is it at all feasible to claim that Jack and you knew nothing of the federal warrants on Dean?" She said as she pulled up the computer and started to search things out for herself.

"Very feasible." Ben said. "I didn't know until three months later. Jack, he might have known, but I know him. He'll lie for his brother. Dean's had a life of forging different identities. It wouldn't be hard for him to fool anyone if he wanted to. And I'll be an excellent character witness. Because I don't like him all that much to tell the truth. I'll admit that under oath, along with the fact that I don't believe he'd kill a human being. Or even demons that didn't deserve it."

"You must care a great deal for your son to go through all of this for him." She said. Regan wasn't a sentimental woman. Not for a very long time. But she knew how the wind blew in that family. They could call it what ever they wanted, Ben was Jack's father in all ways that mattered. "So we will use that line of defense for your boy, Dean, I will see what I can do but I won't be able to promise any miracles if he was set up that solidly. " She looked up as the secretary came in with two coffees and a stack of legal documents for Regan to go over.

"Thank you, Carin. Just one moment." She looked them over and signed on the appropriate lines. "Run this over to Judge Haraman's office, I will call him to let him know you are on the way. Stay until he signs them, then bring them back here ASAP. No time for errands or speeding tickets, got that? Get there and get back." She handed them over to her and watched her leave the room. Regan knew the water cooler talk. They were currently saying the chick in Devil Wears Prada had it easy compared to them, but that was good. Regan dealt with a lot of powerful people, and generally held their lives in her hands. She didn't have time to be nice or well thought of and she had even less time to coddle employees who would rather be working an easier job.

Ben accepted the coffee and watched her walk out. "After you break her and she quits, send her over to my place." He said with a grin. He knew her reputation with her employees. And he also had a good eye for who would be a good stripper. "I'll tell Dean he can be upfront with you. Should make your job easier. I do appreciate this. But, at least you know my check won't bounce." She didn't come cheap, that was for sure. Thankfully, he had money put away for rainy days, or however the saying went.

"I have hopes that one won't break. But I'll let her know when she starts thinking she is going to that I can give her a referral. That could lead to a lot of legal issues in and of itself. " She opened a drawer and pulled a document out of a file "Okay, this is so that I am on retainer. " She said and marked off where Ben was to sign. Included was a detailed list of her going rates and the exceptions to those going rates.

Ben read it over and signed. Money wasn't an issue with him, Dean was lucky on that aspect. "He's at Memorial Hospital. Jack's in the waiting room. I told them both to shut their mouths until you got there." Ben said. "Hopefully Dean listened, or he drifted back into unconsciousness. He's, well, he's pretty sick."

"Hmm.. Here's hoping he doesn't talk in his sleep. Something to prepare for. If he does I am sure there is a way to make it all inadmissible." There was a knock at the door and Regan smiled. "Come in."

"Here you are. He said that you owe him one, because this is a no win case." Carin said, looking winded, as though she had run the entire way.

"Well, we'll see about that." Regan said as she rose and collected the documents in hand, giving the secretary the copies. " Get started on the research. I don't want to be blind sided by anything. I want to know all there to be found about Dean Winchester. " She looked at Ben. "Shall we go? Or are you not coming with me?"

"I'm going. Told Jack I would." Ben said. "And Dean only talks when Jack's in the room, he sounds like their father. Which is why I told Jack to stay in the waiting room. Besides, when he talks in his sleep, it's due to fever. Any doctor will tell you it's mostly crazy talk, unless you're Dean." He said with a chuckle. Though Dean hadn't given away any secrets detrimental to himself. Except for a serious case of low self esteem. "I suppose you want to drive?" Since he hadn't gotten here by car.

"Ben, I always drive." She said as she led the way out. Regan Bruner was a control freak. Control of herself, her environment and those directly around her was a way of life for her. Had been for most of her life, not merely her adult life. She was demanding, domineering and had a tolerance level in the negative numbers for any deviation from her chosen course.

She entered the waiting room and looked around. "Who would be the senior agent here?" She asked, without bothering to introduce herself yet. There could be no doubt that she was the brothers' lawyer to anyone with a clue.

"That would be me." A black man wearing the standard issue FBI windbreaker said. "Now don't even start. We got Dean Winchester dead to rights. And I'm going to look forward to throwing the switch myself. His brother here," the one he unfortunately didn't even know about, "we'll let him off. Winchester is a master conman, the worst monster you can ever dream of. And no amount of lawyering is going to get him off this time."

"Well, that is for the jury to decide, not you." She said and handed him a set of papers. "This is an order from a federal judge prohibiting extradition from the local area. I don't want anyone anywhere near my client without me present that isn't a relative or one of his medical staff. If I find at any time that one of your special agents has passed himself off as so much as a janitor to get past that, I'll have you pulled back to Langley so fast the concord couldn't beat you there. Am I understood?"

"Ma'am, we seem to have gotten off on the wrong foot." He said. "I'm Special Agent Hendrickson. We won't fight extradition. Could be even better here, seeing as Texas has a nice express lane for executions and all. Now how'd you get roped into this case? Lose a bet? Your client is a high flight risk. Guards will be kept on him at all times."

"He can't even get out of bed." Ben said, sitting next to Jack.

"So he says." The special agent shot back.

"You seem to have two of them Agent Hendrickson, wrong feet that is. My client is entitled to his privacy and private conversations with me and my staff. I assume you moved him here because this is a more secure location, and he is hand cuffed to a bed, as is standard operational procedure. Your guards may stand watch outside the door, and how ever many you want to waste man hours on can stand below the windows and look up to make sure he doesn't miraculously sprout wings. Dean Winchester has not been convicted of anything. He is a suspect. He still has the basic rights that you will not be violating in the interest of security."

Agent Hendrickson laughed a bit. "I assume you want to meet with your client?" He said, stepping aside. "Be my guest. I'll clear the room for you. We'll discuss security later, because Dean Winchester is a very, very dangerous man. Most likely crazy, along sociopath lines I'd say."

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't realize you had a degree in psychology." She said in what could be an almost conversational tone. "Now you did say you were pressing no charges against Mr. Hsiao? As in there will be no record of them? Or are you holding that one in reserve for later ?"

"We'll hold that one in reserve." Hendrickson said. "Course it's up the US Attorney." But he knew Dean would roll for Sam. He might even roll for Jack. That would be something to consider. "He's in room 107."

"Fine, I will be looking to have those charges dismissed completely once I am through interviewing both of my clients. No speaking with Mr. Hsiao until I am present. Even if you aren't charging him at the moment. Have a good day, Agent Hendrickson." She said as she strode toward room 107. She just looked at the guards for a moment until they parted and she entered the room. "You can leave. I need to speak to my client in privacy." She told those inside the room. The number of guards was ludicrous. For anyone much less a man barely out of intensive care.

The guards looked at each other, but did leave. They'd loiter outside the room. Dean looked at the new lawyer. "You're a lot prettier than the last lawyer I had." He said with a bit of a smile. He, right now, wasn't a danger to anyone. They'd shackled him to the bed by both hands and both feet. "Would it cost Ben extra if you scratched my nose?" He asked. But damn it itched. Hadn't started itching until they cuffed him actually. Go figure.

She gave him a look then sat down and pulled out a pad, having to think about it for a moment before finally reaching up to scratch the man's nose. She made a note to get those restraints fixed. It was over kill. "I'm Regan Bruner. Ben and I are old friends so you can be completely honest with me since he flamed into my office and laid down a heavy duty retainer for me to defend you. "

"Oh thank you." Dean said. "So the flamer does like me deep down. I always knew it." He said. "Okay, where to start? It's a long long story. Let's see, St Louis? Wasn't me. My brother and I were investigating a murder for a friend of his. Got knocked out, next thing I know, a shape shifter is wearing my skin and trying to kill Sam's friend. Course, then I got all the other murders pinned on me. I shot him dead. Even had a quickie funeral from what I hear. Then, we were investigating another case in Baltimore, and got ourselves caught. They tried to pin that one on me too. But, wasn't me. Was a perfectly human monster. Diana Ballard with Baltimore PD might be willing to tell you more on that one. Then we were on the trail of yet another shape shifter, and got caught in a bank hold up done by a complete amateur. The feds killed him, by the way. That's when Hendrickson and I became such close friends."

She shook her head, this was not going to be good. "Okay, anything else they could pull up against you?" She asked. This was one huge mine field and she was going to get a real work out trying to get him off. Too bad, he was genuinely innocent. She normally didn't want to know. Made it easier on what was left of her conscience either way.

"Um...grave desecration, breaking and entering, credit card fraud..." Dean said. "If you give me a bobby pin, I'll get out of these cuffs and out of everyone's hair. I never wanted to bring this down on Jack." He might not make it out the door, and it had nothing to do with the federal agents, but he'd give it a good try.

"They aren't pressing charges against Jack at the moment. Holding that in reserve. But whatever they tell you, don't believe it. I can get him off without doing much more than paper work. He isn't your concern. You are. You are looking at the death penalty. Worst that Jack would get if I were to utterly ignore his case would be a slap on the wrist and probation. Are we clear on this?"

"We're clear." Dean said tiredly and closed his eyes for the moment. He was trying to stay awake, he really was. "And I know what I'm facing. Guess I have to do whatever you tell me to do." Not like he had any other way out of this, shackled by all fours in a guarded room.

"Glad to hear it. For now you keep your mouth shut. You didn't do anything. You are the wounded innocent party on the run because you don't want to die by lethal injection. Don't care what you have said in the past or who you are talking to at the time. Nothing that can be construed as a confession. No sarcasm, no flirting, no antagonism. Get into the mindset of the quintessential innocent man. That's your new role. Learn it well. For now when they come in to question you... say nothing. If they get too pushy, close your eyes and pretend to pass out."

"Oh, there's usually no pretending about it." Dean said. "If I could stay awake for long periods of time, they probably would have released me before the feds caught up with me. Think they really need to keep me all trussed up? You know, in case I have to, well, take a leak."

"I was planning on speaking to them about that. Apparently they are intimidated by you, even in your current state. " She said with a smirk as she rose. "I will be back in with them in a moment. " She said and stepped out into the corridor, fully expecting to find Hendrickson waiting, since he was forbidden to speak to Jack. "Don't bother getting comfortable in there. You won't be in there long." She told the guards.

"Okay, you've spoken to him. Are we ready for the questioning?' Hendrickson said. He'd barely refrained from listening in somehow, because that was forbidden. Legally speaking any way. "We have to do it. You know it, I know it. Let's just get this over with." He nodded for the guards to go back in. "The guards stay, twenty four seven except for when he's with his lawyer. You're not getting around that."

"Then you can remove some of the restraints. He is barely conscious most of the time, and they make much more humane shackles these days. " Regan said. "You will refrain from overexerting him for the time being. He is still quite ill. No matter how convinced you are of his guilt, he isn't a convicted felon yet. Only so far you can bend his rights without reprisals. When I say it's done, it's done. If you have enough evidence to be here in the first place you shouldn't need to spend too long interrogating him in the first place."

He smirked at the lawyer and came in. "Mr. Winchester, what hand do you write with?" He said.

"My right." Dean said. And Hendrickson uncuffed his left hand and his right ankle. "Agent Hendrickson." He said with a nod and rolled his left wrist.

"You killed those girls in St Louis."

"No I didn't."

"You killed two people in Baltimore. And somehow got off."

"Nope."

"You escaped from police custody on numerous occasions."

"You should have better coffee."

Agent Hendrickson kicked the end of the bed, jarring Dean and he started to turn green. He took deep breaths so he wouldn't throw up.

"You think this is a joke? I'm going to fry your ass, Winchester."

"Actually, I think I'm going to puke."

"Actually I think this conversation will end and you will find yourself banned from any future contact with my client or this case if you ever pull another bone headed stunt like that again, Agent Hendrickson. It still counts as physical contact. Sit down and ask your questions." It paid to have relatives in congress, an uncle on the supreme court and an old college friend with connections at Langley. Regan knew when to play nice. And it wasn't with a lowly special agent. "Or you can leave."

Hendrickson glared at Regan and sat down. "Moving on." He said.

"No, seriously, I'm going to puke." Dean said and managed to get the basin in time. Amazingly enough. He retched into it before slumping back on the bed. Still dry heaves, still nothing in his stomach.

"That's quite a performance." Hendrickson said and clapped. "You can puke all the way to the gas chamber."

"You know what, dude? I've been poked, prodded, invaded, x-rayed, CAT scanned, and questioned by nicer people than you all day today. Not to mention some of this IV shit burns. The move here wasn't all that gentle either. You also scared the crap out of my kid brother. So not up to talking to you right now." He said and closed his eyes.

"We're going to have this conversation." Hendrickson said.

"Do you think my client would stay in a hospital where he could be recognized if he didn't need to be here? Have you spoken with his doctor about his condition? Of course not. " Regan said. "Now if my client isn't up to continuing right now, you have no one to blame but yourself. So, I think we are done here." She rose. "The next time you come in here, try and leave the Cro-Magon act out side. You can schedule an appointment with my secretary. " She looked at the guards. "Any of you start asking questions, I'll have your jobs faster than John Wayne here can kick."

"We'll be back in the morning." Hendrickson promised. But Dean was honestly asleep before he even got out of the chair. He nodded at the guards that were to remain behind. "Don't talk to him at all. About anything. Rotate out every two hours so he doesn't get familiar with any of you. And search his bed for anything he can use as a lock pick or a weapon."

"No can do. I have appointments until lunch. Soonest I can be here is 1pm. You're welcome to wait in the waiting room. Now, do we need to schedule an interview with Mr. Hsiao or are we done with that for now?" She said. It was true. She wasn't being difficult about her schedule. Truth was she would have to bump two clients to be here at one. But she liked to yank the man's chain. He was too gung ho about seeing her client dead.

"Doubtful he'll give us anything." Hendrickson scoffed. "I do want permission to talk to his doctors, see just how unstable he is. Because the moment the docs give the okay, I want him in a maximum security facility, even if it's in the hospital ward." Preferably in solitary confinement. Winchester liked an audience, it would be good to deprive him of one.

"He is under arrest, the doctors will automatically tell you when he can be transferred. The rest of it isn't really your concern. The doctors look pretty skittish around here. I don't think they want him here anymore than you do. " She said. She wasn't about to hand over rights to Dean's personal medical records. "Once transferred that is up to how the penal system handles things." Not that she wouldn't be keeping notes. "So are you saying you aren't going to be interrogating him tomorrow because I have clients I am shuffling just to be here then, if you aren't really going to question him, I can get on about my business."

"I tried interrogating him. He's being difficult. No, tomorrow I'm going to talk to the US attorney about getting an arraignment scheduled. We can do it by closed circuit television if he doesn't feel up to being there." Hendrickson said, snarkily. "But the sooner he's off the streets, the easier I'll sleep at night."

"No, you can wait until he can be there in person, because I will need to be with my client while this happens. I will fight that one all the way. He is off the streets. I am not fighting the incarceration, but undue stress at this point isn't good for my client's health. So maybe you should take a deep breath, lay off the coffee, and take in the beach. With all due respect you are too involved here. You want it too bad, and that ... borders on making you one of the bad guys Mr. Hendrickson. Then again... it works in my favor."

"Careful lady." Hendrickson said. "Careful around Winchester. He's a master manipulator. And he's dangerous." He said and walked out. Ben came over.

"Looks that bad, huh?" He observed.

"Worse." She said as she started walking. "Your boy is off the hook. For now. They are holding it in reserve, which means they will try and use it against Dean. I told him to ignore them because honestly they don't stand a snowball's chance in hell of making anything stick on the kid. But I don't know how much I can do for Dean other than give him one hell of a ride along the way."

"Then give him the ride, Regan." Ben said with a sigh. "If nothing else, before they throw the switch, maybe he'll get to see the missing brother." That's probably what it would take. Now how was he going to explain this to Jack? It was his idea to bring him to the hospital. Sure, without it, he would have been dead a week ago. But still.

"Don't worry. I don't give in easy. Besides, Hendrickson is an arrogant son of a bitch. I'm not going to give him an inch. Maybe I can get the kid to plead insanity. Get him a cushy mental hospital gig he can recover from later on."

"I told you you'd enjoy this." Ben said with a grin. "You can nearly smell his blood in the water, can't you?" He knew that if Dean went down, she'd have a grand old time bringing Hendrickson down with him. Just because it would make the whole thing worth her while. "Just do what you can."

"What can I say? There is a reason I'm not married." Regan couldn't abide a weak man, and a strong one was too much competition, and her competition didn't fare well in life. "Be careful, get your ducks in a row with Jack, what ever story you have going about why you raised him make it neat and tight because you don't want to give that man anything to dig at as far as Jack is concerned. Mean while I am going to dig up everything I can on Hendrickson. He wants it too badly. There is something going on under the surface there."

"That's going to be the kicker." Ben said. rubbing the back of his neck. "Look at me, Regan. I haven't discernibly aged the whole time you've known me. Haven't really aged since the day I met my wife, and that was long before even your grandparents were born. Jack's nearing twenty one now. I could possibly, maybe, pull off forty. Damn, I gotta be the only person on the planet old enough to drink who wants to look older."

"Well, then we will just have to hope he doesn't dig too deeply. At least he isn't a minor any longer. I think he will be too interested in Dean and dodging me to do too much damage. " Regan said as she got into her car. "Ben... word of advice... don't tell the kid there isn't any hope. Won't do either of them any good."

"I'll be as optimistic as I can be." Ben said as he shut her car door for her. "Keep me in the loop." He said with a sigh as he went back to Jack. "Okay, you're off the hook. And by the way, we're half brothers. Dad married a trophy wife after my mother died, then he died of a heart attack, your mom was THAT good in the sack, then she died. You can make up that reason. I'm older, so I took you to save you from foster care or something. Sound good?" They'd never really planned out the lie. They usually just winged it. Now, they couldn't.

"Step brothers. They know I am Dean's brother... unless you wanna be another closet Winchester but I just can't see it." He pointed out while laughing nervously. "Step brothers is fine, since my mother's family disowned her, there wasn't anyone else. We were always close. " He ran his hand through his dark hair. "This is all my fault. I should have gone to check on him sooner. Hell I should have pinned him down and not let him go on the damned ghost hunt in the first place. Then he wouldn't have gotten that sick in the first place."

"No, chances are he still would have gotten that sick." Ben said. "Because we both refused to bring him to the hospital until it was unavoidable. This isn't your fault. You know that Dean fights dirty, you wouldn't have been able to hold him down."

"He trusted me not to take him to a hospital. He trusted me to look after him. To not put him in this position. " Jack said as he began to pace. "They take him to trial and they'll kill him for things he didn't do. " He ran his hand through his hair. "I shouldn't have made him stay put. I talked him into staying around here. "

Ben stood in front of Jack and put his hands on the younger man's shoulders. Making him stop. "Stop it." He said. "You heard the doctor, if he hadn't come in, he would have died. And if he left before the antibiotics and shit were done, he would have died. Yeah, he's in a bad spot right now, but he's alive. He's alive Jack, and I got the best lawyer on retainer."

"And what if that lawyer isn't good enough. My god... I know that this is all some mixed up messed up crap that has been following him around since before I came into the picture, but it's not his doing. He was out there trying to be one of the good guys... he isn't like the others. Not really. He doesn't deserve this. "

"And worse case scenario we get him to cop insanity, and he gets a nice cushy stint in a psych hospital." Ben said. "We're handling this, Jack. Now I need you to handle this too. I need you to stay focused on sticking with the plan, okay? In spite of the cocky bastard that he is, he's got some good will with people in town. Will play well with a jury."

"What plan is that? Sitting back and watching the show? Cause I don't see what else I can do at this point other than freak out quietly and wait to lose another family member I can't do anything about."

"Pretty much." Ben said. He knew all about Jack's anxiety about any sort of separation. "Then, if he gets death, we all go to an island with no extradition treaty." He said. "Nice and warm, hot even. Probably lots of ghost legends for him to chase down. Work on our tans, open a tourist trap..."

"You really willing to do that?" He asked, not sure such a place existed any more but it was a nice thought. "The thought of Kaylie in a bikini every day of the year is a nice image... but there is only so much I can ask you to do."

"Okay, let's look at it from another perspective. I have at most twenty years left here. Can't pass for sixty, sorry." Ben said. "So, yeah, I leave the club behind, and the friends I've made...but I'm going to outlive them anyway. And most likely leave them all behind anyway. Trade that for a nice equatorial island where there are days I don't have to turn on the heat? Easy, easy choice."

Jack smiled a little at that. "Okay. But I am not breaking it to Kaylie just yet. Then again... I don't know how to break it to her about Dean. She will kill him herself if she finds out I was almost arrested. "

"Well, then, we won't have to wait for the jury, will we?" Ben said with a chuckle. "He's tied down right now, just by one ankle and one hand, but I think right now Kaylie stands a good chance at kicking his ass. Should I bring the popcorn, or are you grabbing it?"

"Tied down?" Jack exclaimed. "A half drowned runt kitten could have kicked his ass this morning. What the hell is he tied down for?" He shook his head. " God this just gets crazier all the time. No popcorn, the fight wouldn't last long enough for the butter to filter all the way though."

"Apparently the highly trained, heavily armed federal agents are afraid of him." Ben said. And that amused him. Highly. "Shame too, I would have liked to see him get his ass kicked by a girl half his size. I would have videotaped it for posterity. And later bribery."

"Dean is lucky your good intentions where he is concerned are based upon me and not him. " Jack said with a laugh. Ben and Dean had an amused tolerance of one another. Jack was comfortable with that.

"Yeah, you remind him how lucky he is too." Ben said with a chuckle. "He's out, right now, let's go grab something to eat and we'll think up something to tell Kaylie when she comes to visit him tonight." Because that's usually where she found Jack.

"Yeah, okay. I guess they have people in with him all the time now anyway. Not like we could really talk even if he were awake and I am too full of questions right now." Jack admitted. "Although I don't know that I am gonna be able to eat right now. How about a beer instead?"

"I was just offering to eat for your benefit." Ben said with a laugh. "I don't need to. But beer, I'm always ready for a beer. Come on, Dean is fine right now. They're under orders to not even talk to him."

"Oh god... I almost feel sorry for the guards during his lucid moments. You don't think he will talk in his sleep, do you? Never mind. He would just go on about how he failed Sammy, so it should be fine."

"Besides, anything said under that high a fever with all the drugs he's on...no one in their right mind would take it seriously." Ben said and chuckled. "Hysterical, when you think about it, he's only being completely and totally honest about everything."

Sam turned another page and blinked to clear his eyes. He had been reading since early that morning and was starting to get a head ache. "So... where are we off to this time?" He asked the priest, reaching for the ibuprophen bottle.

"Boston." Father Pavel said. "A poor old woman possessed. And a Bruins game. Do you follow hockey, Sam?" He asked, nearly hopefully. "Hockey was big for boys when I was a child. The Soviet scouts would spy on the ice rinks, looking for talent to develop. Alas, I am a much better spectator than I ever was a player. I prefer the college hockey to your professional hockey. Less ego, more play."

Sam laughed. "No, I was never a sports fan really. I was always the pudgy kid with the book fixation." He said honestly. "Didn't out grow pudgy until I started training more to hunt. I sucked at them so I made a huge show of hating them. I think it was mostly to drive my father and brother insane because they were both HUGE baseball fans. It was pretty scary."

Father Pavel chuckled. Sam had certainly outgrown the pudgy part at least. "Baseball, I do not understand it. Or basketball or American football. But I grew up in a far different time in a far different land. Hockey, now there is a macho sport. I read a t shirt at a game once that said 'give blood, play hockey.' I thought it was...appropriate. So I will take you to a hockey game. Because I like the company. People look strangely at an old priest shouting at the top of his lungs."

Sam laughed then. "Sounds fun. I never understood baseball at all either. Hitting a ball and running in circles." He shrugged. "Football I understand just never got into. Basketball, is a large scale keep away game but one on one can be fun. Dean and I played every so often. Then I out grew him."

Father Pavel chuckled. He could imagine Sam's poor brother. He himself came up to maybe Sam's chest. But he was an aged hunched over man, who came from rather short stock come to think of it. Not the usual image of a Russian, people imagined the wrestlers or the Cossacks. "Then we will go. It cannot be all about our work, all of the time. A lightening of the spirit is always called for. Nothing like watching grown men attack each other with crooked sticks while fighting over a piece of plastic."

"Oh yeah, cause that makes so much more sense than hitting a ball and running around in circles." Sam said laughing then. He was still feeling good after his last encounter with the demon. Still feeling good that there was no longer any evidence anywhere against him or his brother. It was a fresh start. He hoped it was one that Dean didn't undo with his usual lack of concern for his own well being. He didn't understand how that had happened along the way. True, to the outside onlooker it might have appeared that John had raised Dean that way, but really he hadn't. He had loved and protected Dean as much as he could, As much as Sam easily, and in something's he devoted more of himself to Dean, as though he were trying to make up for something. Sam supposed he knew what that was now.

"Yes. Because they are skating in a circle. Much harder than running on foot. Or shoes with spikes, whatever they wear." Father Pavel said. "Come, we can read more on the plane. You look sick of it anyway."

"Yeah, getting a headache." He said as he put the books away and rose to follow the priest. "So with this being an informal catechism... will the church recognize it?"

Father Pavel cast him an amused look. "You believe the Holy Father granted me the authority to cast out demons but not baptize?" He said with a smile. "Any ordained priest can perform the rites of sacrament. In some parishes, I act as a guest father confessor. I am specialized, it is true, but I am a priest. Educated, ordained and trained much in the manner as every other priest for several years."

Sam blushed then. "Ah... well... no... it's just I didn't know if it was one of those things that was... you know...very formalized and maybe needed tracked or something. Especially with ... you know... my heritage."

"Oh it's tracked. I will submit a form saying that Samuel Winchester received the sacrament of baptism, and so on and so forth." Father Pavel assured him. "It's all official. There is just no need for a big ceremony and large classes if you can avoid it. It's hard to learn in a group anyway. Far too many distractions."

"Yeah, there is that. At least in a class where conversation is encouraged." He said with a smile. "What made you want to become an exorcist anyway?"

"I was chosen." Father Pavel said as they made themselves comfortable in the plane. "We graduated seminary, like all priests. And we were given our assignments after our ordination. I was chosen to shadow an exorcist across Eastern Europe. Secretly, as communism still had its iron clad grip on it. He trained me, and during an unfortunate exorcism, he died in the middle of it. In the middle of a prayer. I took over, and I was luckily successful. I then returned to Rome, and was appointed formally as an exorcist. Most priests are trained in the ways of the ritual. Did you know Pope John Paul II performed three exorcisms...while pope? That question may be on Jeopardy, one never knows. My mother decided I should be a priest, the Church decided I should be an exorcist, but that's what the priesthood is all about. Giving yourself over to the ways and means of God. It's hard, sometimes. I wonder what kind of carpenter I would have made sometimes."

"Yeah. I still have day dreams about senior partner in a law firm somewhere." He chuckled. "But a hunter is what I am. Even if specialized these days. Besides... I'd have to cut my hair." He said with a faint smile.

"It is not a bad life." Father Pavel said. "Community service, however that service takes shape, was one of Christ's primary wishes for his followers. Giving more of yourself than you are taking, it's what everyone should try to attain. Imagine the world then!"

"Unfortunately for hunters out there.. the ones with their heads and hearts on straight... they give and give and the world just keeps on taking. Eventually there is nothing but a hollow husk left. Probably why there are so many out there with about as much compassion as a hungry alligator."

"Is that what you fear is in store for you and your brother?" Father Pavel asked. "That there will be nothing left but a hollow husk, following his natural predator instincts?"

"Dean? Never happen. He has always seen it as helping people. Saw our father as a hero. Not like most kids think of their dad, but a real honest to God hero. It's always going to be about helping people to Dean. Me... yeah... I do. Always did fear that really. Resented it too much growing up. It's why I got out."

"And you travel the path of exorcism, where the very cost of it is a little bit of your soul each time." Father Pavel said. "I suppose we can never fully escape the way we were raised."

"I'm losing my soul a little bit at a time anyway. Might as well lose it for a good cause." Sam said pragmatically. He supposed that lessened the sacrifice, but it was how things were. He was going where he was going and that was how things were.

"You are a lot braver than you give yourself credit for." Father Pavel said. He was, even if he felt himself somehow in the shadow of his hero father and big brother.

"That's what they tell me." Sam said.

The bear stirred. "I didn't expect to see you again so soon, boy." She said, gently curling herself around Dean in the recesses of his mind, providing comfort this time, more than physical healing. This time there was no one there to ease the internal hurts, and that was far more important. She was worried about her cub. That was how she saw him, her cub, because he had come to her so young. So very young. Perhaps that was why she used his mother's voice. Or perhaps it was because it was the voice that still soothed him.

"Yeah, well, I didn't expect to be back so soon." He said with a sigh. "Everything's messed up. And right now, I can't fix it. I can't fix any of it. Got a couple of other people dragged down in the whole thing too. Sam took off, can't find him. Not even a trace of him. I taught him too good." He looked at the bear. "The death bear you mentioned, seems like a lifetime ago...wasn't in the form of a chair or a table was it?" He was thinking of his possible execution. Forefront in his mind. How could it not be? He was shackled with armed guards just waiting for him to twitch wrong.

"No...but he is waiting. You will face him many times in your life, he has been chasing you for a very long time, almost having you in his clasp to lose you. Your brother is not lost to you, young one. " She said. "Your quest came so early on in your life... and your brother's was delayed almost too long. He is finding his way. You will be together again. "

"I'd like to believe that. I just don't know how much more I can take." He said. "Not, me. My body. I'm not even thirty yet and I've been pulled back from the dead three times. Just got out of the ICU for the flu. I don't know how much more I can take before the body just...gives out. Like a car that's been driven too hard for too long."

"You will keep going. For as long as there is need." She promised him. "Then I will introduce you to my friend the owl. But that is not today. Things will change for you... so many things will change but you will remain." She soothed "You will see your brothers' lives come to their fruition. Your name will be remembered for generations amongst your people. " Which to her meant the hunters. "You have done and will do great things. But this is the place... the time... where all things change once more. The second of three such turning points in your life. "

"I like chaos, I don't like change." He mused. "Last time I had to make the choice on whether to accept this path. This another choice on whether to continue on it? The answer to that is hell yeah. As long as Sammy's out there, and no one knows what's happening to him...I gotta find him. I need my family to be as whole as it possibly can be." And he was stuck in this bed under arrest. That thought alone got him all worked up again. "I can't just lay here! It's like I'm not doing anything I'm supposed to be doing."

"No this isn't another choice. The choice you made was to set you on your life's path. But that path is not to one destination, but many. You are where you are supposed to be. Even though it seems counter to all that you seek. This is where you need to be. If not, then everything is lost."

"Great." Dean said and sat back down in his mind. "So what am I supposed to do? I don't know what to do. Everything on the outside world is foggy, and everything here is like a storm waiting to break out."

"Enjoy the peace when it comes. You are about to enter the eye of the storm. Even though it may seem that it's raging all around you it is calming. This is where you need to be. Just wait... live... breathe... recover. Because you will need all the strength you have when the battle comes, and it will come to you."

Dean nodded and laid back. "Got it. God, I need to readjust my life if this is what counts as a vacation." He said, with an honest laugh that time.

Sam was in good spirits. The exorcism had taken several days, but he was getting used to that. The game though, that had been great fun. There was nothing quite like watching the priest get excited. It wasn't that it was amusing, well, it was. It was more that their lives were so tightly woven around their work and Sam's studies that it was a rare moment when they both got to just let go and enjoy something so purely. With out thoughts of demons or rituals, or the evil that stalked the world.

They were still laughing and talking about the game when they entered the motel room. "This was a lot of fun." He said, having no idea what his brother was going through in Texas.

"I knew you would enjoy hockey. Or at least the crowd." Father Pavel said with a laugh as he hung up his coat. "Such lust for life. All over a simple game. Well, perhaps not that simple." He said with a chuckle, remembering his own fledgling hockey days. It hadn't seemed so simple a game then. He turned on the television, he liked to keep up with current events, it was so easy to lose track of time in an exorcism.

"And in breaking news, we take you to our Crime and Punishment correspondent." A pretty news anchor said. Then the screen flashed to a grim looking man.

"We've been informed by the FBI tonight that there is now a vacancy in their most wanted list." He said, and it switched to a graphic feed of the press conference.

"We apprehended one Dean Winchester a few days ago in a hospital in Corpus Christi. We are preparing for his trial currently. Mr. Winchester has plead not guilty to murder, attempted robbery, escape from custody and unlawful imprisonment. He's currently being held in a federal maximum security facility, in the hospital ward, for a condition unrelated to the charges or his arrest. We expect him to make a complete recovery so that a speedy, but fair trial can get underway. I'm sorry, no questions." The director of the FBI said.

"And there you have it. America can sleep a little better tonight, knowing there is one dangerous criminal off the streets. Back to you Elizabeth."

"Dangerous criminal my ass." Sam said, feeling a flash of worry, as he picked up the cell phone and called Bobby. "What the hell happened to Dean?" He asked, not bothering with hello. He didn't so much register the prison as the hospital ward. The thought of Dean sick enough to get anywhere near a hospital was enough to tie his stomach in knots.

"He came down with a virus. Spiked a fever. Spread to his chest." Bobby said. He was waiting for this call. "Physically he's fine now. Walked into his arraignment and everything. Doctors just want to keep an eye on him so he doesn't relapse and backslide during this whole thing. "Ben and Jack took him to the hospital after he started seizing. Before that they tried to treat him at home, on request and order from Dean. You know your brother." Concern for Dean. It was a good thing, it really was.

"Okay... he is getting better though... good... good." He repeated and sank into a chair. "The prosecuting attorney has one hell of an up hill battle with that trial. Trust me... so long as he doesn't do anything stupid like confess he will be a free man soon." No evidence, and the only eye witness to any of it conveniently forgot he existed. He hoped she was convincing with that.

"Rumor has it, he'll only confess...to everything...if he has to cop an insanity plea. Then he'll just tell them absolutely everything." Bobby said. "Should make great TV if it goes that route, which I hope it doesn't...what do you mean, Sam? The FBI makes it sound like they have him dead to rights."

"They don't have half of what they think they do." Sam said. "Or any of what they think they do actually." He smiled a little then. "Don't say anything until afterwards. If it doesn't go to trial, then he will never be cleared. It will always hang over him. If it goes to trial and they acquit, he never has to worry about it again."

Bobby chuckled a bit. "Gotta love that double jeopardy thing." He said, shaking his head. "Maybe someday he'll even get to thank you for this." Imagine that, one of John's boys having a chance at an actual life. Was reality coming apart at the seams after all?

"That's not why I did it. So... in the interest of keeping ole yellow eyes out of the know, if I have things to send to Dean... I'll just send them to you first. That is if you don't mind forwarding things on." He didn't want his brother to think he was forgotten or unloved. Normally presents between Winchesters involved weapons or research materials. Tools. Necessary items since there wasn't a lot of room for unnecessary things in their ever nomadic life. If Dean were staying in one place... that could change.

"Sure. Send them on over." Bobby said. Playing middle man. Who would have ever guessed. Then again, who would ever have guessed that Dean would be the son of John, raised by John, to have that nice normal life in the first place. "I don't mind at all. You should know better than that."

"It's only right to ask not assume. So.. he was doing okay there before he got sick right? " It was hard not being able to find these things out for himself. To have to rely on someone else's eyes when it came to the one person Sam care the most about in all the world.

"He was." Bobby said. "Fixing cars, hunting locally." Because he wasn't up to the long distance hunts yet. He was still recovering from Meg when he got it into his fool head to go to that house. "He's trying to find you, you know that."

"I never doubted it." Sam said honestly. "But I can't allow him to do it, Bobby. We both know why. Dean doesn't deserve to go through that. I know what you're going to say and yeah it sucks that he has to be put through all of this alone. But it's better than calling open season on Winchesters just because Dean and I feel a little lost without each other around."

"It's always been open season on Winchesters. Taking one player off the board doesn't change that, Sammy." Bobby said. "Your daddy, you boys, you've made some not so nice enemies on the completely wrong side of things. Human, demon, spiritual, vampiric..."

"Yeah but not all of them are capable and hungry to melt the flesh of his bones... after breaking them all repeatedly. I stay away.. the demons stay away. I'm staying away. They were playing with him in Chicago and you know it."

"I know. I know why you did this, but Sam...what if there was no Jack? What would you have done then?" Bobby said.

"Bobby, that's like asking what if Mom hadn't died." He countered with a sigh. "There is a Jack, and Dean is safe from everyone but himself, and he has Jack to rein him in if he gets too out of hand. "

"Yeah, okay." Bobby said. "He's doing his best with Dean, but your brother is a handful. Wonder how that lawyer's holding out, to tell the truth. You know your brother and authority."

"I don't know. Who is it, anyone? Anyone that can do him some good while they sort it all out or just some public defender he got stuck with?"

"Some broad that Ben knew." Bobby said. "She better be good, from what I hear she costs and all. Course, taking on the Feds, that's an adrenaline rush in of itself I'd guess. I think your brother is in good hands."

"If somehow they manage to screw things up... I have no idea how they could at this point... but if they do... I won't let them execute him. He would stand a better chance against the demons than lethal injection."

"I know." Bobby said. "But let's hope it doesn't come to that. He's been on the run long enough. Eventually something would give." He was sure it was the whole lifestyle Dean was living that ran him down enough to catch that nasty virus. On top of 'miraculous' healings, multiple times.

"Let me know what happens. How it looks. I don't know if I will be near a TV to hear news or not. I am sure a lot of it will be all over Court TV like the Scott Petersen thing was."

"How about we compare him to OJ or Robert Blake?" Bobby said with a chuckle. "At least they got off in criminal court." Whereas Scott Petersen hadn't. Not a very good analogy.

"Dean wouldn't be caught dead in a white bronco." Sam said simply.

Regan settled into the uncomfortable chair in the room where she and Dean were allowed their daily conversations. "How are you feeling?" She asked as she opened her briefcase, looking into his eyes with her own hawk like stare.

"I'm better." Dean said. He'd been told to draw out his illness so as not to be thrown in general population. Where Dean would only get in trouble, to tell the truth. "How does it look?" He asked, trying to cover the worry. But he wasn't looking forward to lethal injection.

"Jury selection is done. Therefore the media circus will begin shortly. I have a feeling the feds are going to want to try this case in the media. There is a short witness list they have given me. Very short to date." She handed over the list to Dean. "Any of those names familiar to you? I need the truth. Who are they, what are they likely to tell the court?" She could handle almost anything including eye witness testimony because the saying 'lies like an eye witness' existed for a reason.

The state had yet to hand over an evidence list, which made her nervous. She needed time to go over the evidence in the case and sort out ways to counter it. It was the whole point of the process, and she suspected the feds wanted to blind side her on this one as much as possible. Which meant she had to go pay the prosecution a visit today to get the ball rolling. Or she had to file for a continuance.

"Also I need to know your measurements, I am arranging for you to have a new suit for court. I need to coach you on your court room behavior, how to act if the media gets past security here, believe me it wouldn't be the first time. This thing is going to be 24/7 for you."

"Suit? Behavior?" Oh Dean didn't like the sound of this at all. But he sighed and looked over the witness list. "Okay, Gordon. He's a hunter, specializes in vampires. Sam and I, well, more Sam, got him arrested when he tried to kill Sam. He'd already killed a bunch of other psychics. This guy also killed his own sister cause she vamped out. He'll come off like a nutcase. Diana Ballard, Baltimore detective, she, ah, arrested me. For two murders, which her partner ended up doing. Then she let us go, me and Sam. Let us...you know...walk right out. This guy's a morgue attendant we paid to get a look at a body."

"Explain that one to me, please." She sighed and pinched her nose. This case was a nightmare. The only good thing about it was she got to pick on Hendrickson on a regular basis. "I need details if I am going to spin that one so that you don't look like a pair of necrophiliacs."

"Okay." Dean said. "Guy died mysteriously, they said it was a stroke. But freak medical things really, they never happen. Usually something more in my realm. So we wanted a look at the body, sure enough, the eyes were completely soup. Pretty gross, right? Anyway, turned out he was killed by Mary Worthington, or more correctly, the stress of his own 'sins' for lack of a better word. She was a vengeful spirit caught in mirrors, you know, that whole Bloody Mary urban legend. So, we needed a look at the body. So we looked. Guy let us in, guy even gave us the police report, in exchange for some more money."

"Lovely." She said. "I'll see what I can do on this." She picked his brain apart for information on the three in question. Ballard was going to be the hardest one to deal with but she didn't imagine all the witness befuddling in the world was going to save this man if they ever produced any hard core forensic evidence. Or for that matter a simple photo. "Now about your court room persona." She began. "I know you think you're charming. But the courtroom isn't a singles bar. You are not there to pick up a date out of the jurors box. You are there to fight for your life. And in that particular arena the way you do that is sit still, keep your mouth shut, and look respectable, innocent... and a little scared. "

"Respectable, innocent and scared." Dean said and exhaled. "Okay, have to work on the respectable part. Mouth shut, I'll do that." Would be hard, but he'd do it. "So they won't be acquitting me, they'll be acquitting some image you've dreamed up? The whole jury idea doesn't make sense at all, 12 strangers and you know they're going by their gut and not their mind."

"Which is why you have to not look like yourself. You sit there as yourself and you come across as a grifter looking for a warm, wet hole. Because everything is larger than life in there. Not like it is on television where it's all dramatic with perfected speeches. If it were, people wouldn't want to shirk jury duty. But they don't have the time to talk to you, to get to know you. So when you flirt, you are suddenly a letcher. When you smirk, you aren't taking it seriously, if you aren't worried, there is definitely something wrong with you. They will be watching your reactions as much as they will the evidence. They will be looking for signs of socially unacceptable behavior. Anything to make them feel less guilty. Right now... my job is to make them feel guilty as much as it is to make you look innocent. Because it's easy to throw the switch on a jackass that can't respect a court of law when his own life is on the line. It's not so easy with a young man that looks like he could be your son or brother."

Dean sighed and ran his hands through his hair. Both, because he was handcuffed. But it seemed like no part of his life could ever be free from the con. "All right." He said. "I'll look everything but disrespectful, flippant or guilty."

"Good. Now... I need you to write down a list of people that can be positive character witnesses for you." She said. "Put an x by them if it's involving the family business, and I will let them know they can speak freely to me. See who we can get to be willing to put a mundane spin on things for you."

Dean sighed again. And took the paper and the pen, under a watchful guard's eye (from outside) and began to write names down. Nearly all of them had the x by their name. Because that's how he came into contact with most of them. "I helped this girl find her brother. I saved this one's son. This family's house was overcome with a bit of a bug problem." He hesitated, but he put down Cassie's name as well. "This one will be hard to find. She's, well, she's a vampire." He said, writing down Lenore before he passed the paper back.

"A vampire. Hmm.. thought they were extinct. Well I guess we do learn something new every day." She said looking over the list. "I will get on this right away. meanwhile, stay down, out of sight and out of trouble as much as possible. Anything goes wrong in here they will use it against you in court." She said as she began packing away her things once more.

"I know." Dean said. "I think Hendrickson's got a man in here, actually. Trying to provoke me. Me? I happen to feel weak and dizzy and have to go to the infirmary. Which means if I am found guilty, everyone's going to think I'm a big giant pansy ass."

"If you are found guilty, you can show them otherwise. In the mean time, there are worse things than being a pansy...at least so long as you are in the infirmary. What do you know about Hendrickson? He has a real hard on for you that I don't understand. It seems almost personal."

"I don't know." Dean said, shaking his head. "But he knows a lot. Not everything, but enough. How we were raised, things like that. Course he thinks Dad is one of those weirdoes that hole up in a shack in Montana and wait for the world to end, when really he was just trying to stop it from ending. I've never met him before."

"Do you think he got all that information from Gordon?" She asked. It was strange. She had never seen an agent that bent on killing a man before. Except in the case of a few specific child murderers but that wasn't even the charge. The hell of it was no profiler in their right mind would pin these crimes on the same person. Which was something she also wrote down because she had an old friend to contact about the case that might be willing to appear on the stand.

"I don't know. Maybe he comes from a disenfranchised hunting family or something." Dean said. "Or he thinks I'm cute. I couldn't tell you." He'd forgotten all about Hendrickson until recently. "He said it was his job to know all about me, like he's a stalker or something."

"You people don't have your own internal police too, do you?" Otherwise it didn't make sense. Unless the government had a task force for the supernatural.

"No." Dean said with a chuckle. "We're not that tightly organized. We didn't even know there was a real community until a few years ago, me and Sam. And if there was, Gordon Walker wouldn't have been arrested by the real world cops. I don't know what his deal is."

"Alright. Like I said, stay out of trouble. This will get going soon. Is there anything you need?" She asked as she stood and straightened her dress.

Dean chuckled. "Peanut M&Ms. I went through the bag Jack got me already." He said with a grin. Hey, he liked his M&Ms.

Regan suspected that the majority of this man's last meal would be peanut M&Ms when the time came. She smiled a little at the boyish request. "I will see what I can do."

And with that she walked over to the door and waited for the guard to open it for her.

"I told you, I first met Dean Winchester when he sought out Jack." Ben told the prosecution assistant patiently. He wasn't charged with any crime, so he was allowed to do this without a lawyer.

"You didn't think it was unusual?"

"Not really. Been expecting it for some time. Once their father told Dean that Jack existed, well, he's a stubborn guy."

"So he just appeared on your door step."

"That's right. Probably tracked him down through DMV, school records, not hard to do. Freedom of Information Act and all."

"And what was your first impression of him?"

"That he was a hooligan. He's got a smart mouth on him. He's cocky, arrogant, flippant."

"Did he ever threaten you in anyway?"

"No."

"I understand he stayed in your house for a time."

"He did."

"What made you decide to allow that?" The lawyer was becoming frustrated. If Ben thought Dean was arrogant, flippant and an all around pain in the ass, well, he'd never tried to interview himself.

"Jack. That's his brother after all."

"He asked you to?"

"Yes." Since, in a way, Jack had, when Dean had been injured in Chicago.

"How did you feel about that?"

"I work nights, sleep days. As long as he picked up after himself and didn't wake me up, I was fine with it."

"You're awfully understanding."

"Thank you."

"I mean, this is a complete stranger we're talking about. One accused of murder."

"I didn't know that."

"And if you did?"

"I would have hired Regan sooner."

Regan got to her feet slowly and walked to the center of the bar separating the jury from the rest of the court. "Is my client an eagle scout? No." She said with a smile. "is he the sort of young man that comes from good stable roots ? No. He certainly isn't the sort of young man that you want your daughter to go out with. But that doesn't make him a monster. "

She began to pace before them. "The prosecution will paint you a picture of life on the run, even as a small child, with a father that was one step away from the Unabomber. That isn't the case either. Dean Winchester grew up moving from town to town as his father took odd jobs here and there to raise his sons as best he could in spite of the trauma of his wife's death. My client wasn't abused, he wasn't neglected, he wasn't taught to live outside of society. He simply didn't put down roots.

"The prosecution would have you believe that my client has fled prosecution from St. Louis . However the city buried the killer there, assuming that it was my client after he and his brother had already left town. The case in Baltimore was closed, another man guilty of the crime. It wasn't until the alleged bank robbery in Milwaukee that Dean Winchester chose to run. And that, ladies and gentlemen is his only crime. Running." She said, pausing once more and looking the jurors in the eyes individually.

"he and his brother were hostages in that bank. It was that situation that first introduced my client to the fact that he was a wanted man. Trapped, with a gunman inside and a federal agent outside telling him that bringing him in alive was optional. Optional. And not his favored option either.

"A young man with no ties to any community, who made his living doing odd jobs and hustling pool was just informed that he was on America's Most Wanted, That he could be shot down and no one would blink. Of course he ran. Was it the legal thing to do... no... but it still doesnt make him a monster.

"My client wasn't apprehended during the commission of a crime because he has committed no other crime than running in fear for his life. He was apprehended barely out of ICU in a hospital bed, where lay with his youngest brother watching over him. He has finally put down roots in Corpus Christi . Made friends, found a home and family. Hardly the actions of a hardened criminal.

"Ladies and Gentlemen of the jury, the prosecution will try and convince you to convict my client on the sole fact that he ran when confronted with possible death. They will try and convince you to condemn this man because of how his father chose to raise him. And they will try and convince you to execute my client for murders that are already solved in states far away.

"A young man's life is in your hands today. I'm not asking you to like him. I'm not asking you to approve of how he has lived his life. That's not what we are here for today. I am asking you to weigh the evidence and only the evidence before deciding my client's fate."

With that said, she calmly and serenely walked over to the defense's table and sat down waiting for the prosecution to begin its case.

"Good morning, ladies and gentlemen of the jury. My name is Ted Silver, I'm representing the people of the United States. I represent you, your spouses, and your children. Your neighbors. The people you pass in the grocery store." Mr. Silver stood up and casually strode toward the jury box. "Ms Bruner gave quite a speech. That's her job. Her job is to gain an acquittal for whoever is sitting next to her. My job, ladies and gentlemen, is to protect you.

"Is Dean Winchester guilty? The United States of America seems to think so. The grand jury that arraigned him seems to think so. A grand jury made up of men and women, just like yourself. They could see through the scared little boy no doubt Ms Bruner has told him to act like. They could see through the All American good looks. The calm demeanor. And see inside. See the fact that Dean Winchester. Is. Guilty.

"He is guilty of murder. He is guilty of heinous acts, grave desecration, breaking and entering, bribing his way into morgues across America. Where your loved ones might someday lie. We don't like to think of death. It's unpleasant, it's unknown. But men like Dean Winchester, they crave the death of other people. It certainly can't be blamed on his background, according to Ms Bruner. A father raising his two young sons on the road, with no stability, no roots. Had no effect on Dean Winchester at all. Because, ladies and gentlemen, he is a sociopath. He might not even know what he did was wrong in the eyes of the law, in the eyes of civilization. But that does not mean that he will not be punished.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I ask you to look beyond the emotional rhetoric of locking such a promising young man away with no chance of rehabilitation. Of what a waste it would be to stick a needle in his young arm and end it right now. Because this isn't a case about emotion. It's a case about truth. It's a case about justice. It's a case about protecting ourselves from people like Dean Winchester. Who prey on the weak, like the women in Baltimore. Who prey on the defenseless, like the corpses he would manhandle. The people like Dean Winchester who make it so we lock our doors at night.

"All I'm asking you to do, as good citizens, as mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers and friends, is to find Dean Winchester guilty. Guilty. Guilty. The prosecution rests."

Dean didn't have to fake looking worried and scared. The prosecutor made him out to sound like some sort of sick nut case! But he stared straight ahead.

The trial was being televised on Court TV. So Samuel Winchester was settled in front of the TV, looking over the last of the information on his catechism, when the broadcast had begun. His stomach clenched as the prosecution made his opening speech. He sounded so confident. Sam could only hope that he had managed to do enough to keep his brother out of prison for life… perhaps a very short life.


	7. Chapter 7

Gordon took his seat on the witness stand and looked over at Dean, locking gazes with him, smiling at him smugly. He didn't care what happened to Dean really. But they were the ones fool enough to get him arrested. He was going to take great pleasure in ruining what was left of his life.

"State your name for the court please?" The bailiff said, and swore the hunter in, asking him to tell only the truth before god. Then Gordon settled in and lowered his hand, and the bailiff went back to his place.

"Mr. Walker." The prosecutor said. "Care to tell us how you know the defendant?"

"Dean and his brother, we crossed paths." Gordon said. "I was roaming from town to town, restless, rootless, we met outside a bar, went back inside and tossed back a few. Found out we had a lot in common."

"Could I ask where you are now? What your residence is?"

"I'm serving out a couple of life sentences." Gordon said. "For murder."

"And you said you and Mr. Winchester had things in common?"

"We're both killers. We'll do whatever it takes to make sure what we're hunting stays down."

"Hunting? Like stalking?"

"It can be." Gordon admitted. "We hunt, we watch, we strike, we kill. We're no different."

"And did Mr. Winchester know then that he was on the run?"

"Oh yeah. Using aliases and everything. He knew. He was trying to stay one step ahead of them."

"For the record, I'd like to submit into evidence Mr. Walker's prison record. As you can see, he was sentenced before the incident at the bank in Milwaukee." Mr. Silver said, passing a copy to the judge and Regan.

"Objection, your honor, hearsay. Mr. Walker has no way of knowing why my client was using a name other than Winchester." She said taking the copy of his arrest record, happily. Flipping through it for a moment before.

"Sustained." The judge said frowning as he too looked over the man's prison record.

"Did Mr. Winchester react to you violently before you two became drinking buddies?" Mr. Silver tried again.

"Held a knife up to my throat. Threatened to slice my head off. If that counts as violent, then yes he did." Gordon said, passing a glare toward Dean, who ignored it and just stared at the flag in front of him.

Mr. Silver asked a few more questions, establishing Dean Winchester as a hot head who was quick with a knife, not unlike what could have killed those girls in Baltimore, then turned over to Regan for cross.

"Mr. Walker," Regan said as she glanced over the file once more before standing and walking over to stand in front of him. "Are you familiar with a young woman named Lenore Patterson?" She asked, looking up from the record to lock gazes with him.

"Can't say I am." Gordon said. And he wasn't lying. He'd never known Lenore's name, or if he did, he'd forgotten it. Her name wasn't important, what was important was that she ceased to exist, something he failed at because of Dean and Sam Winchester. Who let the vampire go.

"She was the woman you were trying to kill the first time you met my client and his brother, Samuel. Can you tell the court why you were trying to kill her?" She asked. This was going to be an interesting cross examination. Although she hoped she could pull this off. Gordon Walker was the heavy hitter on the witness list.

"Because she was just like us, a killer." Gordon said. "It wasn't right, I know that now. But I don't know. Maybe I didn't like her methods. Maybe I had a heroic ideal about the whole thing. But she was just as bad as we were. They let her go, maybe they thought she was cute."

"Heroic ideal? What sort of heroic ideal could you possibly have about killing a young woman? I know you have been coached on what to say and what not to say Mr. Walker but let's be honest, shall we? What was your reason for abducting, binding and torturing this young woman? What were these methods you didn't approve of?"

"See...I know what you're doing. But I'm not on trial here. I had my trial. You're trying to make me look nuts so he gets off." Gordon said, barely refraining from shaking his finger at the lawyer. "I was warned you'd do this. Make me flip out, then he gets off."

"It's alright, Mr. Walker, we'll hear Ms. Patterson's version of the story soon enough. Is it true that the reason you were held at knife point was so that my client's brother, Samuel Winchester, could get Ms. Patterson to safety?" She asked "As she was incapable of walking under her own power at the time. "

"Gun point." Gordon corrected. "He held me at gun point while Sam assisted that monster out. Tied me up so I couldn't find her trail again. Left me for three days or so before someone came and got me. Told me he was a killer like me."

"So my client held you at gun point to save the life of one of your victims, and then left you alive." She said. "When next you saw my client... what did you do?" It was going to be hard to trip him up, but they had Lenore's testimony coming up during the defense.

"I was trying to get him to stop punching me." Gordon said. "He's got a temper, that one. Sees red like no one I've ever seen."

She looked at him incredulously. "What were you doing that caused him to start punching you?" Regan had to give the Silver credit where due, he must have spent days coaching this bad boy into his answers.

"Objection." Mr. Silver said.

"Your honor, this goes toward frame of mind. Was my client acting like a madman or did he have a justifiable reason?" Regan countered.

"I'll allow it." The judge said. "The witness will answer."

Now Gordon looked uncomfortable. "I had a sniper rifle. I was going to shoot someone."

"Who?"

"Sam Winchester."

"So you were trying to kill his brother and he stopped you by punching you. Not by shooting you or pulling out a knife to kill you but with non lethal means." She stated then nodded. "You then rendered my client unconscious and kidnapped him to use as bait in a trap set for his brother. "

Again uncomfortable. "Yes."

"A trap involving high explosives. Am I correct?"

Gordon nodded.

"Yes or no, Mr. Walker."

"Yes." He grumbled, glaring at Dean once more.

"Why were you trying to kill Samuel Winchester?" She asked.

Gordon was positively twitchy. He wasn't crazy. He wasn't. What he knew was the truth, everyone was just too damn blind to see it. "Because he's evil." Gordon said. "Oh he comes off like the boy everyone wants to take home, but that boy is evil right down to the core. Everyone but Dean could see it, those that knew. That know. What Sam is, what he's going to become. And Dean...Dean refuses to admit it, which will kill us all in the end. His brother is evil. The explosives were set up in a way that Dean wouldn't be hurt, I don't give a crap about him."

"Evil... what is it that Dean doesn't see about his brother?" God she hoped he finally stopped talking in metaphor. This man wasn't insane. He was a zealot. That was worse than insane, and harder to trip up. Once he got going, if she could actually get him going, he was going to be impossible to shut up.

She hoped.

"There's a war coming." Gordon said, no longer talking in metaphor, even if he still sounded like it. "Every single culture and holy book has predicted it in some form. And his brother...and other children like him...they're going to be on the wrong side. They're not going to be on our side. They need to be taken down, put down like dogs before they unite." He said, his voice rising in the way a fire and brimstone preacher's voice would. "You can't see it. Dean won't see it."

"Was Lenore one of those... other children like Sam? " She asked him. "Like the people you were convicted of murdering?"

"Lenore's not human." Gordon said. "Right now, Sam and the others like him are human and can be stopped. Lenore and others like her can be stopped also, but that takes skill. Not something for amateurs. The problem is when fools want to protect creatures like all of them. For no other reason but sentimentality."

"I see, so you see yourself as some sort of exterminator. When you failed to kill Sam Winchester, and he in turn rescued my client from you, what happened then? Did my client try and harm you in anyway?"

"No, they ran and called the police." Gordon said, with more than a hint of sneer in his voice. "Imagine that, a Winchester calling the police and turning a fellow hunter in. Should break some sort of code, don't you think?"

"So, you are saying that a hardened killer ran and called the police instead of simply killing you himself? "

"No, I imagine he wanted to come back and finish me off. I think Sam was the one who dropped the dime on me. Because if he could put me away, there would be no one left to stop him. Dean wouldn't. No matter how twisted Sam gets, Dean will let us down every time. So I've been shoved in a cell where I can't finish my job."

"Never the less, you were left alive twice, after making it plain that you were a threat to both Dean and Sam Winchester?"

"He's a killer. I'm betting those girls in Baltimore weren't even human. Not really. Oh friends and family might have thought they were, but this was before Dean knew the truth about Sammy. When anything supernatural was something to be destroyed." Gordon said.

"Objection your honor! She's badgering the witness!" Mr. Silver said, jumping to his feet, seeing Gordon spiral out of control, out of the carefully coached and phrased testimony.

"Or maybe not. Maybe they were human and the bloodlust got him. He got out of control. It happens. Get caught up in the heat of the moment, innocent bystanders no longer look so innocent. Not really, not without some direct light. But I'll tell you this much, he enjoyed it. You didn't see the look on his face when he beheaded a vampire. I did. It was pure joy, fulfillment, like a purpose he was discovering."

"Over ruled." The judge said looking at the witness in horror, moving a little further away from him as he ranted.

"You ...hunt ... vampires?" Regan asked. "You believe in vampires and demons and you hunt them?" She asked him. A sideways glance at the jury was gratifying. They were horrified by Gordon. She hoped it was in the way she had been pushing for.

"Yeah. I do." He said firmly. "The monsters exist. They're real, and Sam Winchester is gonna be one of 'em."

"No further questions your honor." She said as she walked back over to the table and sat down beside Dean.

Dean exhaled. Slowly. Because it was taking all he had not to jump over the table and beat the shit out of Gordon.

"We'll take a short recess." The judge said and excused the jury. Dean looked at Regan.

"Better hope he doesn't get out of jail." He said softly, so only she could hear. "Or I really will be guilty of murder."

"I don't think we have to worry about that." Regan said. "The bailiff is going to take you to ... take care of business. I need to go make a few phone calls. We'll be back at this shortly." She said as she rose and strode out of the court. room. "You were taking quite the gamble with that one, Ted. " She said to the prosecuting attorney in the hall.

"He's a nutcase, but he's not wrong." Ted said. "Your client is just as big a nutcase as him too. Sometimes I wonder how it is you sleep at night."

"On 1000 thread count down filled Egyptian cotton, and the sure and certain knowledge that without people like me, the system falls apart." She told him, not at all ashamed of the fact that she was in this for money. "How can you be so certain Winchester did it when there isn't any real evidence? Lets' cut the crap, Ted. You have nothing but the word of a nut case and empty promises of physical evidence to base this case on. What is it that makes you so sure?"

"I've gotten convictions on less." Ted said. "It's a gut feeling. Your client is a sociopath, no matter how well you coach him to look innocent and petrified. What makes you so sure he's innocent? Not just not guilty, you think he's actually innocent. Is that a speck growing where your heart used to be?" He'd faced Regan plenty of times across the aisle.

"Because I have spent the last 15 years surrounded by psychopaths, sociopaths, and all around bad men. I know the devil when I see him Ted, and it isn't Dean Winchester." She told him bluntly. "And never you mind my heart. If there is anything in there sprouting like a weed I'll rip it out and feed it to my gold fish. But I almost feel guilty about how badly your clock is going to be cleaned."

"Just be sure, Regan. Because Walker's a nutcase, sure. But he could be right, and Winchester is too. And you want to unleash him back on society." Ted said and shook his head. "Doesn't make me sleep better at night."

"That's a shame... because in this instance... it should." She said and excused herself as her assistant waved her over to him holding a manila envelope in his hand. "This is exactly what I was hoping you had for me." She said as she opened the file within. "Well... let's hope that they call Special Agent Hendrickson to the stand at some point. I would love to win this case in cross alone." Not that she wouldn't call the numerous character witnesses she had. Those were going to be the icing on the cake.

She took the file with her as she entered the court room once more.

Ben slipped her a note when she passed. "Nothing in my circles." It said. On her request, on her hunch, he'd asked around in the less than human circles, and found there was no Hendrickson. Which some might consider good, but when you also figure in that demons, spirits, everything else in that category, usually knew everything that was going on, that was strange.

Regan frowned a little and tucked it into the file. No history before three years ago, and that included in the demonic world. She had to pull a few strings to get the Feds to wait to haul him into custody until he was called to testify on the stand. She needed to discredit him on the stand. It was probably one of the few ways she could get Dean off completely.

She settled into her chair and looked over at her client. "You are certain you have never seen Hendrickson before this all began?" She asked him in hushed tones. "Not even in as a recurring face in the crowd?"

"Nope. Never." Dean said. "Believe me, I've tried to picture him in any of my past events, and he's just not there. I never heard of him before, I don't know him. No idea why I'm his pet project."

"No one...not even the Feds have heard of him before three years ago. Which is an amazing thing since the Bureau isn't exactly known for letting just anyone in. There are back ground checks that you have to go through, and he has no back ground. " She told Dean. "So, this works in our favor as far as your trial goes, but I have to tell you it gives me the creeps. Do you have any idea how hard it is to give me the creeps?"

"Yeah, I got an idea how hard it is to give you the creeps." Dean said and exhaled. "Seriously weird. Now, if I were free in any way, you know, I could do some serious research on this." But he'd been denied bail because he was a 'high flight risk' or something.

"Ben hasn't found out anything at all on his end. Hopefully you will be able to figure him out on your own time later-"

"All rise." The bailiff said and court was once again in session.

Regan looked over at Ted Silver and honestly felt sorry for him. She was going to owe him a steak dinner when this was all over and done. Hendrickson's little charade wasn't going to do his career any favors, that was for certain.

The prosecutor took a long drink of water then rose to his feet. "The prosecution calls Special Agent Victor Hendrickson to the stand." He said and waited as Hendrickson, in a nice suit, was sworn in. "Agent Hendrickson, please state your name and occupation for the court record."

"Victor Hendrickson. I'm a special agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigations." He replied.

"And what, exactly, is your job description?"

"I'm responsible for investigating federal crimes, specializing in the violent crimes, enforce federal law, take criminals into custody and deliver them to justice." Hendrickson said.

"And how did you hear about Dean Winchester?"

"His file crossed my desk. It was assigned to my team. So I started to research him and his family. I investigated his father, his upbringing, everything I could get my hands on and found a pattern."

"A pattern?"

"In cross referencing several of his crimes, and the ones he's merely suspected of, I was able to put together a revisionist itinerary."

"Can you explain that to the jury?"

"It was a lot of work. But I traced his steps backwards, and every where I went, he'd been seen. Usually something violent happened while he was there. Then there was the hold up in the bank."

"Where you actually spoke to Mr. Winchester."

"Yes. He told me he wasn't going to negotiate the release of any of the hostages. We were preparing a SWAT team at that time just in case he decided not to negotiate."

"But he did let one of them go?"

"Yes, an old man who fell ill. Probably thought it would buy him some time, if not good will."

Regan watched and never once took her eyes off of the man on the stand. Gordon Walker had been a little unnerving in his zeal but she had actually understood him. Not that she agreed, but he was a hunter and hunters all seemed to eventually wind up like him. Or they died young. He was unnerving because he challenged the reality she liked to pretend to exist in. The one that most people wanted to exist in where there was no closet monster and it really was safe to go out after dark.

Hendrickson ... he was another matter entirely. He was a threat to that safe sound reality of LAW. Where people answered to higher authorities and didn't appear out of no where with no background, no history, in order to pursue their own agendas. In her world you went to college, then law school, then you practiced until you retired or you moved on to become a judge or lose yourself in politics. FBI agents had previous law enforcement experience, or they had specialized training in college and were recruited to Quantico. You didn't miraculously appear as a special agent three years ago with nothing behind you. It was wrong. In the same sort of way the average person on the street would consider the existence of vampires, werewolves and demons wrong.

She rose slowly when it was her time to cross examine the witness, and looked at him in an entirely new light. This wasn't just an arrogant son of a bitch. This was a threat to how her world should work. "Special Agent Hendrickson. How long have been with the Federal Bureau of Investigations?" She asked.

"Three years, ma'am." He said with clear eyes. Coming off as the epitome of polite, cool agents. "Before that I was in college. I went to college late, it took some time to figure out what it was I wanted to do. Luckily, the Bureau helped me find focus. Do something good with my life." Making a direct contrast to Dean. Hendrickson obeyed the law, he was the law. Dean was not.

"Where did you go to college?" She asked. It was all lies, but she wanted him to create the lies as he went. To paint himself into a corner with his polite, professional manner. So she kept the questions up. Digging politely into the non existent past of Victor Hendrickson.

"Objection, your honor, immaterial." Silver said.

"Goes to Credibility, you're honor, I'm coming to my point." Regan countered politely..

"I'll allow it but make it quick, counselor."

"Thank you, Your honor." She walked over to her desk and picked up two copies of the file she had just received from Quantico. "I would like to share with your honor and Mr. Silver, documentation that has just arrived from Quantico. Special Agent Hendrickson's record with the FBI. It begins three years ago as stated. However there is no application, no training record at Quantico, not so much as a next of kin in case of emergency. I have further documentation to state that there was no file on my client at Langley or any other FBI office until it was created by Mr. Hendrickson. I would like to also enter into evidence a report also from Quantico that states that the investigation that began due to my inquiry into Special Agent Hendrickson has been unable to locate transcripts from any college, high school or grade school for a Victor Hendrickson, further more there is no birth certificate and the social security number being used actually belongs to someone else. " She handed copies of the reports to the judge and to Ted Silver. "Do you have any explanation for this, Mr. Hendrickson?"

"Clerical error." Hendrickson said, coolly. "You believe I received top secret security clearance and no one picked up on the fact that I was using a fake social security number? That I've come into being one of the top field agents, but never actually applied to the FBI? And you want the jury to believe that? The people who trust me and other agents with their safety? To get your dangerous client off?"

"I have seen far stranger things in my life, Mr. Hendrickson. , and these fine gentleman at the back of the court room wouldn't be waiting to arrest you for impersonating a federal officer for a clerical error. One file missing is a clerical error. The fact that you have no history before the Bureau is more than a clerical error. Your history is as available as the evidence you have failed to produce against my client. "

She turned to walk away giving Silver an almost apologetic look for not giving him a heads up on this, then paused and turned back to face the witness. "You entered the FBI at the same time you began hunting... framing... my client. What is it about Dean Winchester, a man who has never laid eyes on you until you arrested him, that provoked this behavior?"

"He's dangerous." Hendrickson said, his eyes flicking toward the officers at the back of the room, then back to Regan. "Everyone around him, every life he touches, ends up dead. So he needs to stop touching lives."

"So you aren't denying the accusations against you. You aren't denying that you started this campaign against my client for personal reasons. Indeed you started your career in the FBI for this purpose. Whose life did he touch that pushed you to this point?"

"I choose not to respond to the allegations knowing full well there will be an investigation to clear this matter up. And this being a court record it can be used as evidence. It's called the fifth amendment to the Bill of Rights. Much the same as Mr. Winchester probably choosing not to testify. But it's not personal. He didn't personally touch my life, but he's left a wide enough path of destruction and death that the Bureau was happy to let a team investigate."

"A path of destruction that you brought to them. Coincidences put together by an amateur, passing himself off as a professional. A case file built by a man who has never been trained by those at Quantico in how to handle such things. Violent acts happen around us every day. It doesn't mean we are part of them. No further questions. "

"Counselor?" The judge asked Ted Silver, who merely shook his head. "The witness is dismissed." He said. Hendrickson looked at the judge. Then he glared at Dean. Then he walked calmly off the stand and down the aisle where he was surrounded by officers and escorted out.

Dean exhaled. "That's good for me, right?" Dean whispered to Regan.

"This is good for you." She said. "So far the prosecution is basing his case on a man who believes in vampires and a bogus FBI agent. We're doing alright here. We get to follow up with all those people you have been helping along the way. Remember... that will be the last thing in their active memory about you. Not Hendrickson declaring that you are dangerous" Silver hadn't rested his case yet, and she hoped there were no rabbits waiting in his hat. One good one could sink Dean so easily.

Silver wasn't pulling any rabbits out of his hat. He was grasping at straws. A morgue tech identified Dean as having unnatural interest in corpses, but on cross from Regan, was unable to point out which assistant attorney took his statement two weeks ago. So how could he remember a man from four years ago? Especially since he admitted to drinking. SWAT team members from St. Louis testified that Dean was the man who attacked Rebecca, and threw a knife at one of their own. Though not discredited as fiercely as Victor Hendrickson had been, they were forced to admit that it was dark, he wasn't facing them fully, and it was so quick it was possible that the identification was wrong. Regan wasn't worried about that part so much, she had Rebecca herself to testify on that subject.

"All rise." The bailiff said. Court was done for the day, and the prosecution had rested.

Regan looked at Dean. "Okay... tomorrow is our day." She said. "Tomorrow I bring in Rebecca who will testify that she shot her attacker, there will be others to testify on your behalf. We're looking good, but don't get too comfortable, you've seen what a good cross examination will do. Go get some rest, relax, read a book or something tonight. Stay out of trouble."

"Yeah." Dean said as the bailiff put the cuffs back on him and led him toward the van that would take him back to the prison. What he really wanted to do was sleep in his own damn bed and have a damn beer. This was draining on him. Being called a monster, hearing his brother called a monster, and having no choice but to sit still and keep quiet.

So he didn't have a restful night on his prison cot. He stared at the ceiling and wondered just how Sam was doing, was he okay? He had no idea, and it was wearing down the rest of him, eating at him slowly. Sam, he had to believe, was all right. Because right now he couldn't do anything one way or another.

Sam looked over at Father Pavel as the reporters gave their opinions on the trial. "I don't believe it. He infiltrated the FBI? What on earth could have possessed him to infiltrate the FBI to come after Dean? He wasn't even really after me.. so it's not the nephilim thing... " He was glad that Ben had hired a barracuda of a lawyer. Otherwise the testimony alone would have been enough to hang his brother, physical evidence or not.

"Sometimes miracles cannot be questioned too closely." Father Pavel said. "From what you have told me, mainstream law enforcement could have come after you or your brother for any number of things. This time, the one that did was completely discredited. Miracle. Or not. I wouldn't question it too closely."

"And this just in. The man who fooled the FBI into hiring him as an agent, known by Victor Hendrickson, has escaped from police custody. A source close to the story who asks their name not be released stated that Hendrickson just...disappeared. Into thin air." The anchorwoman reported and turned to her male colleague. "Everything connected to this case just gets stranger and stranger. One witness claims he hunts vampires, another disappears after no one can find proof he ever existed."

"Lady, if you only knew." Sam said to the television, the picked up the book on catechism once more. "So when are we doing this?" He asked in regard to his baptism. It was impossible to do what they did day in and day out and not believe. And with belief came power and protection. It was a comfortable trade off for Sam who had always quietly been a believer anyway.

"We can do it in the morning." Father Pavel said, wanting to get it done quickly before it would cause Sam serious harm. Right now, only the most minor of discomfort. Religion and its sacraments shouldn't be about pain, after all. Unless you were a weirdo nutso freak. Pain would come to Sam in time because of his faith, but it would be an after effect, not the point of it.

Sam nodded, as he set up the lap top. He wanted to find out what the man formerly known as Hendrickson actually was. He didn't know if he could figure it out, but he could try at least. Anything that could disappear in to thin air could get at Dean in prison. "Okay. Sunrise?" He asked as he started surfing the hunter sites.

"Sunrise." Father Pavel said. "I've always liked sunrises." As Sam knew so well. They were nearly a daily baptism and renewal in and of themselves.

+++

Jack downed the bottle of beer and rose to get another one. "Well it could have gone worse today... I think..." Some of the testimony was pretty damning even though it was given by nut jobs and con men. That little bomb shell still floored him.

Ben nodded at Jack as he passed and continued to talk on the phone. His unplugged phone. But he had friends in very low places. He spoke in a hushed whisper, but even if he'd been overheard, Jack wouldn't have understood. Not all demons, like not all people, spoke English. Even Ben's choice of vocabulary could be strange at times. But he wanted to know about this Hendrickson. Was he after Sam, through Dean? Was he after Dean? Or Winchesters in general, which would mean trouble for Jack. Which was to be avoided at all costs. Then he plugged his phone back in.

"Oh yeah. Dean could have lost control and attacked any number of the witnesses." Ben said. "Though it would have made for damn good television. I would have even taped it." They attended the court room sessions, so there was no need to tape it. Dean's supporters quietly sitting behind him as he was defamed, disgraced and insulted.

"Yeah... I thought he was going to for a minute there when Gordon Walker started mouthing off about Sam needing to die. Gotta give him credit for staying put. Then that FBI agent was something else. I can't believe he wasn't for real. I mean I'm grateful but... this whole thing is insanity. The man is on trial for murders that were solved already and accused by bigger nut cases than... well the lady down the block with the cats... she is looking really sane now in comparison."

"There's nothing wrong with the lady down the block. Besides an obsession with cats and an untreated paranoid schizoaffective disorder." Ben said with a chuckle. "Come on, did you really believe anything involving your brother would play out in a sane, orderly way? If you did, obviously I screwed up somewhere along the way in raising you to believe in, oh I don't know, reality."

"I pretty much expected things like FBI agents to be normal regardless of their involvement in Dean's life. Guess now I know better. So does Regan think this is a good thing or a bad thing cause, wow this could go either way."

"She thinks it's a good thing. Remember she's bringing a bunch of witnesses, who will lie, but they'll lie for a good cause, right? The jury was scared of Gordon. Hell, he gave me the creeps." Ben said. "I think Regan can get him off. Then he can't be tried for any of this ever again."

Jack nodded. "Yeah...that's something to hope for anyway. And the majority of them aren't really lying... just... forgetting a few details... like posing as an officer of the law, and you know... being there in the first place." He frowned a little. "Kaylie's running a bit late today, isn't she?"

Ben looked at the clock and frowned himself. "She's definitely late for Little Miss Prompt." He said. Then he turned on the TV to the all news channel, no traffic hold ups anywhere. "She's probably just late. Or she really did leave you for the tentacled alien to follow Melissa Etheridge around the country."

"Yeah... it's possible..." Jack said distractedly. Then groaned. "The late part is possible... Jeez, you would think people would forget that eventually." He laughed a little.

"Not a chance." Ben said. "It's too good. Though she struck me more as a Tori Amos girl than a Melissa Etheridge girl, but hey, to each their own."

Kaylie came in then. "Sorry! Got held up at the prison. They had to search the unopened bag of M&Ms, then I had to make sure they got to Dean without the guards eating them."

"They had to search the M&M's... then again after today's court room antics, you never know what those little M&M guys would do." Jack said as he went to pull his girlfriend into a hug.

"Well, we should report the guards for holding you up. Thought Jack was going to have a conniption fit." Ben said with a chuckle.

Kaylie laughed and hugged him back. "Yeah, those M&M guys are troublemakers. What with vying for the green M&M girl's affections and all. You okay?"

"Yeah, Hendrickson escaped from custody. Was kinda worried about both of you really." Jack said with a sigh. "Today has just... had me kinda wigged out."

"He escaped?" Kaylie said. "Oh boy. He's probably replaced Dean on the Most Wanted list. He's gonna be pissed." She said and kissed him. "I'm fine. I think one of the guards wanted to strip search me, but he thought better of it."

"That's good cause I don't want to wind up in a cell next to Dean which is what would happen if he had touched you. Did you tell him you knew a better way for him to see naked girls?"

"Uh huh!" She said with a grin. "Dancing around his head instead of stars after my boyfriend got done with him. Seeing as the boyfriend in question is the brother of their most dangerous guest, that pretty much shut him up."

"Nice." Ben said with a laugh. "Soon your reputation will precede you."

"Haven't had to punch anyone out since high school." Jack said with a laugh. "Would rather not start with prison guards, but what the hell. Maybe I should go with you next time and glare at him or something."

"I believe the last time you punched someone it was over her, as well." Ben said with a shake of his head. "Women. They, well, they keep us in shape, don't they?"

"Well, someone has to, right?" Kaylie said.

"Beats what keeps Dean in shape." Jack said. "Well Ben says that things actually went pretty well today... although all I saw was a substantial amount of insanity following him. But I guess I would be able to eat if you wanted to go get something."

"Actually, yeah, I do." Kaylie said. "A nice normal piece of time is so what's needed."

Ben laughed. "Go on. I've got a marathon to watch."

"You know.. you are way too fixated on Jennifer Garner." Ben said as he grabbed his jacket. "What are you in the mood for rabbit food or cowboy food?" He asked her as he walked her toward the door.

"I definitely want some ribs." She said with a laugh. "All that having to sit still, and look squeaky clean all the time...I need some nice, messy ribs." That was Regan's idea. Supportive family behind Dean. Supportive, clean, respectable upstanding family behind Dean. And not that they weren't. But it was tiresome to have to absolutely look the part absolutely all the time.

Regan stared at the deposition before her, then looked up at Diana Ballard. "You have to be utterly convincing up there tomorrow. You and Rebecca are my key witnesses. The ones that can take the death penalty off the table completely. If he gets even a whiff of uncertainly from you, he will make you think I'm a docile little pussy cat on cross."

"What do you want from me?" Diana said, frustrated as she took another drink of coffee. "I don't know Dean Winchester. I never heard of him until I was questioned by the US Attorneys. I might have glanced his name on the wanted list, but he wasn't in my jurisdiction." She looked at Regan, practice over. "I let his brother destroy evidence. I altered police reports. Because I know what those boys really do, and I know Dean is innocent. I'm doing everything I can do."

"So that's what happened to all that lovely physical evidence." Regan said shaking her head. "I'm not sure I want to know how he managed to get a hold of the evidence but there isn't so much as a photo of a grave site. Their finger prints aren't even on record anywhere but locally since Dean was arrested here. But right now, with everything turning into a circus, if they catch wind of a conspiracy on our part, it's gonna be like blood in the water. Unfortunately that blood is going to be Dean's."

"I know." Diana said. "Look, those two boys, they've been through and seen more than anyone should ever have to. I know that. But...I shot my partner to protect them. I falsified reports. I lied to everyone about this. How much more am I expected to give?"

"What ever it takes to be convincing on that stand tomorrow. You are my first witness in the morning. Go back to your hotel room, get some rest and tomorrow we can get this behind you and you can go home. But if you can't do this, tell me now and I won't call you up there."

"I can do it." Diana said with a sigh as she gathered her coat to go get a stiff drink and go to sleep.

But she came to court the next morning bright and early, and passed by Dean without giving him a second look as she made her way to the witness stand and was sworn in.

"Detective Ballard, you were originally on the prosecution's witness list. Can you tell me why they called you in?" Regan asked.

"They wanted to know what I knew about one Dean Winchester." Diana said. "And his connection to a case I had been on a few years back. Of course, they ran into a problem that their information was faulty. I'd never heard of Dean Winchester or his brother Samuel Winchester. They asked me for three days, over and over, if I knew either of them. The first time I saw Dean Winchester's face was when they showed me a picture of him. That was the first time."

"The case you were working on. It's one of the crimes my client stands accused of today. Can you tell me if you have closed your investigation of those murders, and if so why?"

"We have." Diana said. "Peter Sheridan confessed to the murders of Tony and Karen Giles, along with the murder of Claire Becker. He had motive, means and plenty of opportunity. He confessed to me." She exhaled when Regan pressed for more details. "Peter Sheridan was a detective, my partner. He'd gotten mixed up in drugs and money laundering, along with Tony Giles. When Tony threatened to come clean, Peter killed him. And Karen, just in case she knew anything. I...I shot him when he tried to kill me."

"No further questions." She said and went back to her seat, hopeful that Ted Silver didn't have a nose for the deception going on with Diana. She was gaining headway and didn't want to lose it the same way she had gained it. Through a powerful cross examination.

"So you never met Dean Winchester." Ted Silver said.

"No."

"Which means you and your partner never interrogated him or his brother."

"No."

"And that means that Dean Winchester never confessed on videotape?"

"Not to my knowledge and not in Baltimore."

"There is no tape that people like to watch because they find it funny?"

"No. But if you find it, let me know. Sounds like something I'd like to watch."

"And if I dragged people in here who have seen the tape?"

"Oh you mean the rookies who drink and watch tapes? Sure, go ahead. Of course, like I said, they're usually drunk. And this trial has been on the news non stop, so who knows what they believe." Diana said.

Ted shook his head and sighed a bit. Looking forward to a long vacation in Florida. "No more questions." He said and returned to his seat as Diana was dismissed.

"I would like to call Rebecca Warren to the stand." Regan said, and watched as the pretty blonde made her way to the witness box, giving Dean an apologetic look as she walked by. Once she was sworn in Regan approached the stand.

"I know that you have been through a terrible ordeal and it's hard to talk about but could you explain to the court, in your own words, what happened three years ago in St. Louis?"

"I feel terrible about all of this. It's all my fault." Rebecca said.

"No. You are a victim; it's never the victims fault when things like this happen. Please, Miss Warren, can you tell us about the events that lead up to your meeting my client?"

Rebecca nodded. "My brother Zack and I went to school with Sam - ahm... Dean's brother. He had taken some time off after graduation, and Zack and I went back to St. Louis where we had grown up for a long weekend. One day the police came and arrested Zack saying that he had murdered his girlfriend. But I knew that he couldn't have done it. Sam and I were still writing back and forth on email, so I told him about it. He and Dean arrived a couple of days later."

"So to your knowledge the Winchesters weren't even anywhere near St.Louis when the murders started?"

"That's correct." She said.

"You were the one to first accuse Mr. Winchester, can you tell us what happened?"

"Sam and Dean were looking into things, we didn't figure they could do anything but they wanted to see what they could find out anyway. That's the kind of friend Sam was. Anyway, someone came to the door and I thought it was Dean. I had only met him once in passing and I was so upset about Zack being in jail that I didn't really pay much attention to him. By the time Sam got me calmed down, they were back out the door. So I thought this guy was Dean, he really did look a lot like him, Even now the resemblance is kinda creepy."

She brought a trembling hand up to her face and told the court what had happened to her. Regan brought her a glass of water. "Its' alright, take your time." She figured if she could get the gruesome details of the attack out of the way there wouldn't be too much left for Ted to manipulate in cross. "So the swat team arrived in time to save you, but the killer got away. What happened then?"

"Well, I went to the hospital and the police station to make the report. Sam called but I screamed at him that I never wanted to see or hear from him again. I didn't even really tell him why. He tried a couple more times to talk to be but I wouldn't give him the chance. I didn't know what to think- whether or not he was involved or what was going on. The police had told me not to let on that I knew who it was or that I had told them." That much was true at least. They didn't want to compromise their chances of catching Dean.

"When did you realize that it wasn't Dean Winchester that attacked you?" Regan asked.

"When I saw his face on the most wanted list in the post office."

"Why was that such a shock if he had gotten away after your attack?"

"He didn't... or rather the killer didn't. I killed him myself." She said and took another long drink of water.

"Can you explain that to the court?" Regan asked. "Take your time; I know this is hard for you."

"When I got out of the hospital that night I was so scared, I couldn't hardly think straight. I bought a gun off some guy on the street. I know it was wrong but I didn't think I could wait for all the paper work to clear. It was a good thing I didn't. The next night the ... guy... showed up again. He ahm... was going to finish what he started and I was able to shoot him first."

"And you are positive it was the same man that had come into your home the night before?"

"I'm positive. You don't forget the face of a man who ties you to a chair and starts to cut on you for fun. "She said."Especially not when you thought they were someone you could trust. And like I said until a few months ago I had thought it really had been Dean Winchester.

"Is there any way that the man you shot could have survived and gotten away?"

Rebecca shook her head. "I stood there and stared at the body terrified that if I turned my back it would get up and come after me again. I stood there staring at it until the police came... and it lay there while they processed the scene in my parents' home... and then they put it into a black bag and hauled it off to the morgue. The officers checked for signs of life and then later the coroner did the same... they jabbed a long thermometer into his liver... can't imagine not reacting to that. Besides they buried him a few days later."

"Did you ever contact Sam Winchester again?"

"No. I thought I had killed his brother. Thought he had brought the monster into my home. It wasn't something I was willing to talk about or deal with."

"What about when you found out that it wasn't Dean?"

"He was on the most wanted list. I didn't know that it was because of me. Thought it was something else. I still didn't want anything to do with him. In fact, it's hard to look at him even though I know it's not his fault. That he was never the one that hurt me. "

"Your honor I would like to enter into evidence the police report regarding both attacks on Ms. Warren, also the coroner's report on the man they assumed to be Dean Winchester, and the grave site where the killer's body was lain to rest." She handed over a copy to the judge to look over before adding it into the evidence the jury would be perusing during their deliberations. "I have no further questions for this witness."

Ted Silver got slowly to his feet as he approached the witness. "Ms. Warren, you've had to rehash a horrible ordeal. I'll make this brief."

"Thank you." Rebecca said.

"I've looked at the police report, and the coroner's report. The man they examined was killed with two perfect shots to the chest. Have you ever owned a gun before?"

"No."

"Had you ever fired a gun before?"

"No."

"But you made two perfect shots into the heart."

"I was lucky."

"Your parents' house was also pretty trashed. As if a fight had ensued. Did you struggle with the man you shot?"

"No. That was from earlier when he had...tied me up..."

"It's not in the police report from that attack."

"They must have missed it. I don't know both happened on the same night."

"To your knowledge, where were Dean Winchester and his brother that night?"

"I don't know, I never saw them again. After I screamed at Sam, they might have left town."

"So the neighbor that saw Dean and Sam in front of your house the next morning is...wrong?"

"Yes. I left that next morning. A friend picked me up, but it wasn't Sam." Rebecca said. She glanced at Regan, she was lying. Completely and totally lying about everything except that Dean hadn't been her torturer. She wasn't sure how long she could keep this up. So she started crying instead. Wasn't hard, with that night so forefront in her mind.

"Objection your honor, counsel is badgering the witness." Regan said, glad that she had started crying. "Ms. Warren was a victim and is not on trial here."

"Sustained." The judge said and Ted sighed as he glanced at the ceiling.

"No more questions for this witness." He said as he went back to his table. The case was slipping away, and he couldn't figure out why. It was supposed to be a slam dunk. But now the evidence was missing, his witnesses were crap, and her witnesses, he was sure they were lying. Could he prove it? No. But he KNEW they were.

"Redirect your honor." Regan said as she got up and made her way over to Rebecca. "It's alright, I hate to keep putting you through this." She said as she handed the young woman a tissue. "Did the police ever question that you were the one who shot your assailant? Did they bring you in for questioning? Do anything at all to make you believe that they didn't believe you?"

"No." Rebecca said honestly. "I just...just aimed at the biggest part of him and hoped and prayed that I hit him... The officer said I was lucky but it was probably because I was so close to him... just a few feet away. "

"And your friend that picked you up the next morning. I take it he was young, blonde and wore a leather jacket?"

Rebecca nodded. "Yes."

"No further questions your honor." Regan said and waited for her to step down before calling her next witness. Regan filled the remainder of the morning with witness after witness who had nothing to say but amazing things about Dean. How they had helped search for one woman's missing brother, saved another's son from drowning. It was several hours' worth of the Heroic Tales of the Brothers Winchester. Minus all the rock salt, silver rounds and body burning excitement of course. There was no mention of the supernatural what so ever ... that is ... until Lenore took the stand. Lenore was the ideal witness. Practiced at the white lies necessary to keep her identity a secret, she perfectly portrayed the grateful rescued damsel. Filling the court's ears with how Gordon Walker was a mad man who thought she was a vampire. How he had tied her to a chair and was torturing her when Sam and Dean had come to her rescue. How Gordon had attacked Sam and cut his arm open over the top of her. How they had risked their lives to save her, and had tied Gordon up to give her time to get far away. That Dean had told Gordon they were nothing alike. That he would never harm a human being.

Regan rested her case, then began her closing statements.

"Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I almost feel guilty standing before you now. We've kept you away from your families, your jobs, and subjected you to the media every day, so that the US Attorney's office could treat you to a three ring circus.

"You have been subjected to a madman's testimony of vampires and demons. You've been forced to watch as a young man trying to salvage his life from his own drunken haze used my client's misfortune to gain his 15 minutes of fame. You have been made to listen to experts giving their opinion on crime scene data that they have never seen. In fact no one in this court room has seen it. Not myself, not you, not the prosecution. There is a reason for that. It doesn't exist.

She stood before them looking each juror in the eyes. "Dean Winchester is a young man that has traveled across America doing odd jobs, and strangely enough helping people. We all know people who give of themselves in major ways. The grass roots garden variety American hero. The sort of person most of us all would like to be. But how many of those people who give so greatly would then turn around and commit the heinous acts my client stands accused of? How do you reconcile a man who would save a small boy from drowning or defend a young woman against small town prejudice with a man who would commit acts of violence and sadism?"

She began to pace. "And let's look at those heinous acts shall we? We have testimony to support that Dean Winchester was not responsible for the deaths in St. Louis . The sole piece of evidence that the state has been able to produce against my client is a tomb stone with his name on it. A confused young woman who shot and killed her assailant believed him to be Dean Winchester. The fact that she killed the man should constitute as evidence that my client is innocent as he sits before you today, awaiting your disposition on his very life.

"The lead investigator of the case in Baltimore has never seen Dean Winchester or his brother before in her life. There was no physical evidence what so ever to even say that my client was in Baltimore, much less at any of their crime scenes.

"The prosecution lists grave desecrations but can't produce any evidence of the desecration. Not so much as a photograph or police report. They bring you one long term alcoholic with a history of drinking on the job to identify my client as the man he let into the morgue, yet this man can't identify someone he met a week ago for over an hour.

"You have heard testimony from the security guard in the bank, whose life was saved by my client. They claim that he was armed and dangerous at the time but have no evidence to support that claim. No video tape, nothing. The swat team that was rendered unconscious can't even identify my client as the man who attacked them.

"The Prosecution opened this case by telling you this wasn't about emotion, this was about Truth. Truth... there is nothing more emotional and subjective in this world than the Truth. To Gordon Walker the Truth is that Lenore Patterson is a vampire and should die. The truth to Special Agent Hendrickson is that Dean Winchester is a violent homicidal threat to society. But Special Agent Hendrickson, who sat before you and proclaimed my client's guilt, was a fraud. In fact he is now a fugitive from justice himself.

"Your job ladies and gentlemen isn't to discover your own truth. That is for philosophers and holy men. Your job today is to look at evidence. Does any of the evidence presented to you here link my client to any of these crimes. Is there a single solitary finger print, DNA sample, or credible eye witness putting my client at the crime scene? Has the state been able to even prove that Dean Winchester was ever even arrested?

"It's not up to me to prove to you that Dean Winchester is innocent. It's up to Mr. Silver to prove to you that he isn't. Has he done that? Has he actually proven anything?

"These are the questions you need to ask yourselves as you retire to deliberate. Has Mr. Silver proven to you beyond the shadow of a doubt... the SHADOW of a doubt€¦ that Dean Winchester is guilty of these crimes, or are these cases already solved. A young man's life is in your hands today. Mr. Silver has requested the death penalty based upon the evidence brought before you. Is there really enough evidence to sentence a young man to death?

"Was there really enough evidence to go to trial? Or was Mr. Silver and the grand jury simply caught up in the emotion and so called truth of Special Agent Hendrickson, with nothing more than smoke and mirrors to back it up? Mr. Silver came to you with earnest sincere intent to protect us all from the sort of monster that would commit all these crimes. But that monster is not my client, ladies and gentlemen."

Once more with a calm serene demeanor, Regan Bruner turned away from the jury and walked back over to sit down beside her client. Her job was done. Provided she had done it well, and if not she would have them in court time and again on appeal until the matter was resolved to her satisfaction.

Ted Silver took a drink of water, and desperately wished it was vodka instead. This had to be the biggest karmic joke ever played on him.

"Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I'm not like Ms. Bruner. I don't get to pick my cases. I'm appointed by the federal government to prosecute federal crimes as they cross my desk. And they only get to cross my desk with the evidence to back them up.

"Was Special Agent Victor Hendrickson a fraud? It appears he was. It appears he duped the whole justice system, up to the FBI which has the highest security clearance. For one purpose, and that was to bring Dean Winchester down. Why would a man do that? He did have a psych eval with the FBI, he was sane. This wasn't some school yard vendetta carried over into adulthood. Hendrickson knew something about Dean that worried him. That should worry us.

"Our law is a quirky thing. Shadow of a doubt, reasonable doubt, innocent until proven guilty. But he still ran. Somehow he got out of a bank swarmed with SWAT officers. A bank that no one came out of until it was discovered that Dean Winchester and his brother had already fled.

"Ms. Regan has filled your heads with stories of Dean Winchester's heroism. His good deeds that he refused any repayment for. Of course she would. That's her job to paint her client in the best possible light. She spoke of smoke and mirrors. Smoke and mirrors and tricks of light. Evidence gone missing as we went to trial, but evidence that was available when the warrants were filled out and filed. Evidence that was there when the FBI chose him for their ten most wanted list. More smoke and mirrors, ladies and gentlemen.

"I am not maliciously prosecuting Dean Winchester. If I hadn't met the burden of proof, the grand jury would not have indicted. But smoke and mirrors, ladies and gentlemen. It's all smoke and mirrors to make Dean Winchester look like the boy we want living next door. The one we want to pull over and help us when our car breaks down in the middle of nowhere.

"But these crimes. An inconclusive exhumation of the man Rebecca Warren claims she shot. Torture, dabbling in the occult, murder, assault on officers of the law...will you really allow the smoke and mirrors she calls the shadow of a doubt release this man back into our community? Back into our neighborhoods? Near our children's schools? Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, we've assigned you with a serious task. I can't emphasize that enough. So as you deliberate, think of the smoke and mirrors."

He rested his case, wishing he was fishing right now.

"Okay... now we wait. They'll take you back to a cell for now and we'll be called back in when the jury comes back with their verdict." She said quietly to Dean. "I can't promise, Juries have convicted on less but I think we are doing well here. Hang in there. Before you know it this will be over."

"Thank you." Dean said sincerely. But he was scared. He wasn't dumb, he knew the jury was in that room right now deciding which extreme of Dean Winchester they believed more. Monster, homicidal Dean who was a danger to everyone around him. Or Selfless Hero Dean who helped people everywhere he went, pulling kittens out of trees and carrying groceries for old ladies. He wasn't either, really. But he gave the row behind him an assuring smile as he was led back to the holding cell.

The row behind him contained Jack, Kaylie and Ben (who had been suckered in) and Kaylie squeezed Jack's hand. "I'm going to go get a soda, you want anything?"

"A valium would be good." Jack being the one person in the room who was as scared as Dean right then. He looked at Ben and smiled sheepishly his thanks. He knew his brother wouldn't die regardless, Ben wouldn't let it happen, but it didn't make it any less frightening that there were people right now deciding if Dean Winchester deserved to live or die. "Nah... I don't need anything honey." He said to Kaylie. "Probably couldn't keep it down right now." He admitted.

Regan walked over to Ted Silver. "Sorry if I made you come off as a fool in this whole proceeding. Not your fault really. Hendrickson or whatever his name is handed you a really pretty package of nothing to deal with."

Kaylie kissed Jack and headed off to the vending machines as Ted looked at Regan.

"Something's not right about this case. I can't explain it, but missing evidence? Witnesses kamikazing on the stand?" He shook his head. "I don't get to pick my cases, Regan. I just prosecute what comes across my desk. That's thing, it never would have crossed my desk if there really wasn't anything there!"

"What came across your desk was the creation of Victor Hendrickson. I didn't manufacture the closed murder cases, Ted. You got screwed because the FBI didn't keep an eye on their own. He convinced the grand jury there was evidence that just wasn't there. How ever this turns out I owe you a drink when it's all over. "

"Might as well buy me a drink now." Ted said, looking at his watch. "Court's out for the day. My guess they won't come back with a verdict any earlier than 72 hours." He was good at predicting deliberation times. There were even pools on how often he was right on that, and he was right more often than not. "I hope you're on the right side of this, because if Dean Winchester is half as scary as my case made him out to be, or would have had I any evidence, I wouldn't want him free."

"I am, Ted. And believe me... my job is done, nothing I say here would change a thing... he is not the monster they painted him out to be. If he were, you wouldn't have Gordon Walker up there making a fool of himself. Hell, I think he should get sainthood for letting that little bastard live. Come on. I think I can afford to foot a steak dinner along with that drink. You've earned it." She said with a laugh.

Ted laughed at that. "You're on." The bailiff came in and dismissed court, saying the jury was deliberating.

Ben looked at his watch. "Come on, Kaylie's probably still waiting by the vending machines."

Jack nodded, still staring at the door where the jury had disappeared into. "Yeah. Let's go find her and then get something to eat." It was a toss up whether or not he wanted to eat everyone out of house and home when stressed or if food was his worst enemy. Right now he wanted to find a buffet and eat himself silly. It was a girl thing to do but it was better than drinking himself into oblivion. Which was yet another option.

"It'll be fine." Ben said. "We've got a contingency plan, remember?" He reminded Jack as they exited the court room behind other people. The media was being held at bay, at least until they were outside the court house. Then it would be fair game, unfortunately. Ben looked up and down the hall. "Okay...vending machines are...that way I think."

"Right." Jack said as he turned down the hall. "Kaylie?" He called out looking through the crowd that had gathered to see the day's court. Regan had been right. It had been a three ring circus and attracted as many tourists as the beach for the last week. He stood up on his toes and peered into the crowd. "Kay?"

Ben looked around, finding the vending machines and moving in for a closer look. Because Kaylie was, well, short. But she wasn't by the vending machines. Her purse was, however. And a buzzing that was fading, that most wouldn't pick up on. "Jack!" He said, waving him over.

Jack pushed his way through the people, as they started to thin out, having come to the realization that it wasn't going to be a quick decision for the jury. "What is it?" He asked.

He handed Jack Kaylie's purse. "We might have a bit of a problem." He said as the buzzing faded. "Might be a big one too." He was really reconsidering his decision to let Jack's brothers barrel their way into his and Jack's life right now.


	8. Chapter 8

Jack was exhausted.

One brother was in jail awaiting word on whether they were going to put a needle in his arm and kill him for crimes he had never committed. The other was God only knew where awaiting the death of his soul. And right then, Jack didn't care. Because Jack's world had disappeared in a puff of smoke. 

Kaylie had been his first girlfriend. Back at a tender age when most boys thought girls had cooties. He had given her a ring and asked her to marry him at the age of 10. Of course that ring had come out of a gumball machine and had cost him 5 dollars worth of quarters to get the one that he thought she would like. The pair had been inseperable ever since. 

Until now. 

Until she had disappeared in the middle of a crowded court house.

"I should have gone with her. But no. I had to sit there and worry about whether or not I was going to throw up all over my shoes. God I am such a loser. " Jack said running his hands through his dark hair. He had looked everywhere. From the moment of her disappearance until the wee hours of the morning he had searched every place he could think of because to sit still and wait would be bring madness. But now he was exhausted and had no clue where to turn. 

Ben was out looking for leads in the demon community, figuring that was their best bet, since it happened at Dean's trial and that was a hot bed for wierd to say the least. The sun rose in the east as it did every morning but Jack didn't find the peace in it that Sam did. All he found were question marks and uncertainty. About Kaylie, about Dean... 

Ben was in a bar drinking whisky straight. He'd asked the bartender, who knew nothing. And he shook his head. This was not good. As if the trial wasn't bad enough, now Kaylie was missing. And he liked Kaylie a lot more than he liked Dean. He remembered, when Jack was nine, and they first moved to Corpus Christi, Jack and Kaylie were in the same class. Sitting right next to each other because Hsiao and Ingham were not separated by anyone else in the school district. Somewhere along the line, Jack broke his pencil, and Kaylie gave her his. From that moment on, a pig tailed blonde girl child was underfoot. And if he couldn't find Jack, he called the Inghams and asked them to send him on home if they could. 

"Ben, how do you ask a girl out?" He'd said when he was ten. Ben tried to explain, and somehow Jack got a marriage proposal out of it. "Abby, I could really use some help here." Ben whispered under his breath. Abby never answered, she'd been dead for nearly twenty years, but every once in a while, he liked to pretend that she could. He remembered how lost he'd been when Abby had died. If he could have died himself, he would have been actively suicidal. But he couldn't, so he wasn't. Jack, on the other hand... 

"Thanks for the drink." He said to his friend, draining the glass and sliding somewhere else. 

Jack paced the living room floor trying not to hyperventilate. He wasn't used to this sort of thing. Ben had kept his world trauma free for the most part. No kidnappings, death threats or home invasions happened the entire time he was in Ben's custody. So he was ill equipped to handle the situation. He was even less equipped to handle the glowing letters that appeared in the air before him.

It was two street names. An intersection in down town Corpus Christi. Followed by answer the phone when you get there. Pay phone. A dying out custom with the advent of cell phones. And an easy landmark to get to. Jack didn't even think about it. He was out the door in seconds flat, and headed to the intersection driving Sophie like a sports car all the way. He didn't know how long the phone had been ringing when he got there but he grabbed it up breathlessly. "I'm here." 

"Took you long enough." A man said. "And here I thought you just might be concerned about your girlfriend's whereabouts. Guess I figured wrong. Means she's disposable. I hate complications, you know."

"You touch one hair on her head and I will flay you alive." He said, and meant it in that moment, sounding almost ferocious. "What do you want? Where's Kaylie?" This wasn't happening. God this wasn't happening. 

"She's fine. For the moment." He said. "John Hsiao." He laughed. "Never thought you'd pop back up, we thought you were dead. Son of Magdalena Hsiao, daughter of Teneke Hsiao I gather? What a find. Nearly as good as a Morningway."

"What are you going on about? How do you know my mother? Who is this?" Jack's head was spinning. "Never mind that... let her go. Then you can tell me what the hell you want with me and what a Morningway is." 

"Who. Who a Morningway is." He corrected. "And why would I do that, when it's the only leverage I have? I'm hanging up now. See if you can figure out where we are. Of course, I have a short attention span, and so much more on my plate. And you would hate for me to forget about her, wouldn't you?"

"Wait! How am I supposed to figure out where you are. Just tell me where you are and I will be there. Don't hurt her... please. What ever it is you have against my mom... how ever she hurt you or... who ever... it has nothing to do with Kaylie." 

"Doesn't it? You brought her into this." The voice said. "Everyone you touch in a way. Scary isn't it? So what would you be willing to do for her? How far will you go to make sure she's not hurt? I told you she was leverage. Shouldn't have left her unattended like that."

"What do you want?" He asked. "I have nothing to do with my mother's family. I don't know anything about them. They disowned my mother before I was born." This was some how all his fault. Kaylie had been kidnapped and put through God only knew what because of who his family was, and not the Winchester side of it either. It made no sense, no sense at all. "I won't call the police, I swear, just tell me where you are and I will come to you." 

"Such a good, obedient boy." The man said. "It's good that the police aren't involved. It would be hard to explain it to them, wouldn't it? I'm hanging up now. I'll call the library information desk at 8 pm, right before it closes. If I have to wait any longer than five seconds, I'm hanging up there. And you don't want me to hang up. Good bye." Click.

Jack's mouth was dry, and his heart couldn't make up its mind if it was going to sink to his stomach or choke him to death. Either way it ached. Why was that voice so familiar? He had to talk to Ben. There had to be some way to track down the son of a bitch. He had to find Kaylie. He had to... there was no question of if... there was only the question of how... and it was a very big question. He went back to his car and got behind the wheel, but sat there staring at the steering wheel trying to process it all. He took out his cell phone and dialed Ben's number. 

"Tell me you found her." Ben said. "Because I can tell you that no demon has her. The demon community, man, when they do an abduction, they can't keep their mouth shut."

"The kidnapper called." Jack said, sounding shell shocked. He explained the entire conversation to Ben, hoping that Ben can make sense of it because he knew his mother, maybe he had a clue about who would want to come after him or those close to him based on his last name. 

Ben growled. "Okay, okay. Stay calm. Get to the library and wait for the call." Because dammit, they had to play along. "I'll string her parents along for a while." Her mother was overprotective. Her father too, in that normal father of a girl type of way, but her mother was borderline unbearable most of the time. He rubbed at his face. "I'll...I'll see what I can find out. Just...just play along right now." Not answering any of Jack's questions. Because that would open up a whole can of worms on its own.

"Right." Jack said snapping out of it and starting the car. "Ben... I've never been this scared in my life." Which was saying something. Jack's early childhood was full of things to invoke terror in small boys. He drove toward the library, feeling a tingly sort of numb. 

"Good." Ben said. "Take the call, call me right after, and I'll dig into the occult community." Which was never that open to demons, surprisingly. But he'd try. 

Jack parked the car at the library and hurried inside. He paced near the information desk checking his watch every few seconds. Please god let her be alright. Why is this happening? None of it makes sense. He wished his brother were free right then, having absolute confidence Dean would know what to do, even though he was sure that it would be exactly what Ben was doing, telling him to take the call and be calm. Jack didn't know how much calm he might have left. 

The phone rang and the librarian answered it. "Who? Uh...hold on." She said. "Is there a Jack here?" She called out in a hushed stage whisper, looking completely put out that there were personal calls to a patron being called to her information desk. The phone was out of her hand without so much as a hello from a young dark haired man. "Three...four..." The voice, the one that had been taunting Jack with every communication, was counting as Jack took the phone.

"I'm here." Jack said quickly into the phone. He knew the man was doing this deliberately. Torturing him as surely as any knife could. He was trying to wear him down. Jack knew it. He just didn't know how to counter it.

"Very good!" The man said. "You're very good at following directions. I like that. Write this down. Go to Yahoo! mail. Account name KaylieJane. No spaces. Password rescue. There will be one message, download the attachment. Print out the picture and meditate on it. I'm deleting that account in an hour." Then he hung up. 

Jack rushed to the nearest internet ready computer and did as instructed. He had the picture in hand as he was ushered out of the library. He knew there was something in the picture that he was supposed to see, but all he could see right then was Kaylie. She looked alright, please let her be sleeping and not dead, please. He sat down in his car and called Ben once more, telling him what had transpired.

"All right." Ben said, frustrated on his own. The occult community was, as expected, less than eager to talk to him. "Head home, I'll meet you there, we'll see what this picture tells us." And cursed all things Winchester in his head. Because if it wasn't for that nice little brotherly reunion, Jack would have remained off the radar until the day he died.

"Right." Jack echoed. "Home." He hung up, and drove back to the house. He walked into the house, but it didn't feel the same. He didn't feel the same. Nothing seemed real anymore. Out of habit, he turned the TV on to Court TV. He knew they would get the call when the jury came back with its verdict but he wanted it on anyway. It was that touch of normal... strangely enough a connection to his brother even though he wasn't there. As he settled onto the sofa and pulled the picture out to look at it, really look at it, he wondered if Sam were watching as well or if he even knew that Dean's life was on the line. Or if it mattered to him.

He looked over the picture, staring at Kaylie as she lay helpless. Unbound, but helpless none the less as she slept (please let it be sleep. If there is such a thing as God, please let it be sleep) what had she gone through before she slept? Did she know she was in danger? Was she frightened? (God knew he was.) Had she been hurt? He couldn't see any signs of injury but there was so many ways to hide that. He could do it with a few minutes on a computer. "I'm so sorry, Kaylie. God, I am so sorry."   
Ben flared into the room and sat down next to Jack. He looked at the picture, but knew better than to try and take it from her. "She looks fine." He said. "Hold to that. Exactly like she did in the courthouse. Both shoes." A small detail, but her having both sandals told him there wasn't much struggle. That could be good or bad, but he preferred Jack to be positive. "Okay, there's something you're supposed to see in this picture. Besides Kaylie."

Jack nodded and searched the details of the picture. "I don't know what I am supposed to be seeing." He said and began to name off the details of what was in the room. "I don't know what I am supposed to be seeing. It's like some sort of demented Where's Waldo." He stared at it, trying to focus on the whole not the details, because the details were so mundane it was giving him a headache.

Ben cocked his head and looked at it. "Maybe it's one of those weird 3D pictures, where you have to stare and unfocus your eyes and something pops out at you." He hated those, he remembered when they were all the rage and all over the place. Really, he hated them because he could never do them. Never once could he see the tropical fish in all the series of patterns.

"He did say to meditate on it." Jack said as he set the picture on the table and stared at it. "Meditation takes relaxation though and I don't know that relaxation is humanly possible right now." Reluctantly he turned off the television. All they were doing was talking about the freak witnesses the prosecution had called. Going on about the missing FBI imposter. He began the deep breathing exercises that he had been taught in his tai chi classes. Figured that was the only way to even begin to be able to meditate He closed his eyes and tried to find his center then opened them again, trying to relax his eyes and not focus on any one thing in the picture.

Ben stared at it as well, but not surprisingly it was just one big blur as he unfocused his eyes. He figured like everything else in his body, his eyes were even different than a human's. But this picture was for Jack anyway. He hoped the internet computer at the library had a decent printer and they weren't missing something. 

Jack breathed and focused on the picture as a whole. Trying so hard to not stare at Kaylie, helpless and in who knows what kind of condition. Which would just make him have to start over. But finally he didn't even see Kaylie, as she blurred into the peripheral of the picture nearly. In eerie writing along the background, was another address. Barely seen, but there. In the same writing as the address that had appeared before him when this whole goose chase had started. 

Jack repeated the address over and over, committing it to memory as he fished for something to write it down on he didn't know if it would disappear if he looked away from it. "Do you see it?" He asked Ben, as he looked at the eerie script scrawled across the page. He wrote it down. "Okay... on my way there." He told Ben as he was on his feet and headed for the door. 

"Of course I don't see it." Ben said, crankily. The one time it would have paid to be human he supposed. "Wait, you don't think you're going alone, do you?" He said as he got up quickly himself. 

He was grateful for Ben coming with him. He didn't know what he would do with out his foster father. "I'm glad you're coming. I don't know what to do. This is... I don't even understand what this is all about." 

"Of course I'm coming." Ben said as he took the keys, figuring he was the better driver at this point. He would have come for every step, because this was Jack, and it was Kaylie, but he'd been off chasing dead end leads of his own. "It's about your mother's family I think. You know, that whole line of mystics. Whacked out bunch. They disowned Maggie when she was outed as a demon, figured they wouldn't take kindly to me, so I cut off contact. Good or bad, right thing or way wrong move, that's what I did. But now, big publicized trial..."

"And they have spotted me... are they evil?" Jack asked, concerned that anyone that indulged in kidnapping was seriously evil. "And it was the right thing. I wouldn't have wanted to grow up anywhere else."

"Jack, don't ask a demon if people who believe all demons should be wiped off the face of the earth are evil." Ben said as he pulled out of the driveway. "I kinda don't have the objectivity to answer that. I don't know, I guess like everyone else, they've got their moments. This might be one of their moments. If they're the ones behind this, they won't hurt her. Because hurting her means not getting you. Getting you where they want you."

"Why? If they didn't want Mom, why the hell would they want me?" He didn't understand. "And I'm about as mystical as a pet rock. Not like I am even useful or anything. Just kinda normal. Average guy inspite of my parents and being raised by a demon... I'm just... a guy. Nothing special." 

"Say that again and I'm going to smack the shit out of you." Ben said. "I don't have time for ordinary, average or nothing special and I've obviously made plenty of time for you. Got that?" He said as he shook his head. "I don't know. Guess we'll find out."

"I didn't mean it that way." Jack said. "Just meant... I don't see what would make them want to come after me... not exactly Gandalf... more like one of the hobbits...I can't believe I just used that analogy." He said as they hurried to the address on the picture. "But you know what I mean. "

"If you want to continue on with that analogy, look how special indeed the hobbits turned out to be." Ben said, shaking his head. Jack didn't remember it, neither did Sam or Dean, but he'd had a Tolkien conversation with every son John had now. Weird, how genetics played out. "I don't know what he wants. I never had any contact with them myself." He pulled up in front of an old decrepit warehouse. "You sure this is the address?"

Jack laughed a little. "I'm the hobbit with Boromir and Faromir as brothers." He said shaking his head and looked at the photo again. "Yeah this is the place." He said as he got out of his car and slowly walked up to the warehouse. "Why does this give me the cold horrors?" 

"Because it's not just a warehouse. It's a front." Ben said, feeling things on the edge of, well, his demonic side. Which picked up things humans, not even hunters, could. He didn't like this at all. They walked toward the warehouse, and Jack passed through the front door. Ben did not. Resting his hand against open air, flat and pressed, as if there was something there. "You wanted proof you didn't inherit anything from your mother, like demon and all that shit, here it is." He said, frowning. There wasn't brick or salt or anything physical there. It just wasn't letting him through.

Jack turned around. "What the hell?" He said. "What could keep you out?" He asked as he looked around the door, trying to see what it could be. This was getting crazier all the time. Crazy mystic relatives that don't like demons but think it's okay to kidnap innocent girls. "Guess my dad's family is looking better by the minute, huh?" 

Ben had to laugh. "You've got a brother who might end up on death row, and another that's...whatever he is." Ben said. "I wouldn't go that far yet. It's happened before. Different magicks can do that. I'm fine. I'll keep the car running."

"At least they haven't been kidnapping innocent girls." Jack pointed out as he turned to go and explore the warehouse. "Hello?" He called out. "Anyone here?" He asked as he walked through the cavernous room.

"Innocent is always a matter of perception." The voice Jack was familiar with said as he crossed the room into a shaft of light pouring in through a window. Hendrickson. "It's hard to not be quick to judge isn't it? Innocent. I have yet to meet a completely innocent person."

"You!" He exclaimed. "Kaylie has never done anything to deserve to be kidnapped. I've never done anything to warrant this ... so my idea of innocent, subjective as it may be.. is the accurate one. Where is she and what do you want with me? I'm not going to help you hurt Dean." 

"Watch your words, Mr Hsiao." Hendrickson said. "You wouldn't want to corner yourself, now would you? You wouldn't want to sacrifice Miss Ingham, who you say is completely innocent of everything, for your brother, who by any account, carefully straddles that nice gray area between guilty and innocent, would you?"

Jacks eyes narrowed. "What. Do. You. Want?" He asked firmly. "And where is Kaylie?" God, this was insane. He wasn't going to let either of them be harmed. Not by this bastard.

"Kaylie is sleeping." Hendrickson said. "And I haven't decided. It was just too good an opportunity to pass up. I have a knack for being in the right place at the right time. But you didn't answer my question. What would you do?"

"I don't know." He answered honestly. He wanted to say anything, offer him anything to get Kaylie back unharmed, but he had the feeling that would be a half step away from making a deal with the devil and Kaylie wouldn't want him to go that route. "How do you know my mother's family?" 

"I work for them." Hendrickson said. "They're an old, old family. Dwindling, but old. We would love to thank your mother for not giving you your father's last name, but, well, she's been taken care of, hasn't she? By that thing that raised you? If they could have found you, they would have given you a real family."

"I have a real family. I'm not interested in the people that abandoned my mother and me. The only reason my name isn't Winchester is he was no different than them. Wanted nothing to do with us. It's a bit late to show up with an interest. So tell them thanks but no thanks and bring Kaylie out so we can go now." No one called Ben a thing. Ben was his father. And if it weren't for the fact that he had Kaylie he would have probably decked him. 

"You had an uncle." Hendrickson said, ignoring Jack's diatribe. "Unfortunately, he died without leaving any sons. That's important in Chinese culture, as I'm sure you know, as now there is no one to light the ancestral flame. Except for you. And no one else to carry on that long, and distinguished line, except for you. They didn't know about you when your mother told them about herself. Had they, things might have turned out differently."

"Yeah, they would have taken me away from her when I was born. Why did you kidnap Kaylie instead of just talking to me? Because of what you were doing to my brother? Since that doesn't exactly endear you to me."

"Because people listen more when they're under duress. They try harder to understand." Hendrickson said. "Believe me, I have better things to do than babysit your girlfriend. Her time will come, I suppose, nothing to do with me though. You wouldn't have listened if I tried to talk to you before. You wouldn't have listened to anyone in your family."

"What do they want? I'm not really Chinese, you know. I don't follow tiier customs or beliefs, I don't have any mystical abilities. I'm not theirs anymore. I wasn't from the moment they abandoned my mother. I'm listening but so far I haven't heard a lot from you that will change that. If they want to talk to me, fine, they can show up and we can sit in my living room or over dinner at a restaurant and talk about if there is any way to get past this, but kidnapping my girlfriend... on top of how they treated my mother.. not looking good for family bonding." 

"Drastic measures are often necessary to ensure attention. Otherwise you would have hung up the phone. If the demon who lives with you even gave you the phone in the first place." Hendrickson pointed out. "Everyone in your life is defenseless. One brother sits in a jail cell...with no protection. The other is a danger to himself. Your girlfriend, well, she likes to wander off I guess you could say. Now what are you going to do about it?" 

"You want me to talk to them... fine I will talk to them, but let her go. You could have taken me instead, you son of a bitch. You like fear. You like tormenting people. Otherwise there were at least a dozen different ways you could have gone about this. Now where is she?" 

"You have to find her. Or you're not worth my time." Hendrickson said. "Of course, you have to find your way out of here first. So much anger, you should really watch that temper of yours you know."

"You still haven't told me what you want other than my attention." Jack said as he started to walk around the warehouse, looking at everything with a wary eye. No wonder his mother fell to evil so easy. He had thought it was because of saving him, but he was begining to think it was because she came from a evil family to begin with. 

"There's a war coming. As I'm sure that brother of yours told you." Hendrickson said, in a bored tone as he watched Jack. "It's not just that stereotypical good versus evil. It will be a war about power, who gets to stand when it's over. We'd like to make sure it's us."

"And they think having me around is going to make a difference in that? Why? I don't have any special abilities. I'm pretty average." He said not bothering with the obvious exits. Something just told him that there wasnt a way out there and it would just look foolish for him to try. 

"Are you ordinary? That would be a shame. You're the only male Hsiao left...your grandfather is dead, your uncle is dead...until you have sons that is." Hendrickson said. "You had better not be ordinary. Or you won't get out of here." He said and walked out of the shaft of light, now unseen.

"Son of a bitch." He said and forced himself to take a few deep breaths. If his mother's parents thought this was the way to win him over to their side, they were sadly mistaken. Jack's name was Hsiao, but he was a Winchester to the bone. Temper, protective streak and thirst for vengeance. 

But right now he had to focus. He had to find his way out. "Think, Jack, think." He said. then shifted into a tai chi stance. He needed to find his center, needed to open up as he had to look at the photograph. He went through the moves until he felt the tension fade and his mind relax into a more receptive state, then he started looking around once more. 

In that receptive state, he could nearly see the barriers surrounding the room. Like lattice work, some parts open, some not. Some wider than others. Some seemingly opening to closed walls. Jack followed his way through the lattice work, making his way through the open spaces, even examining the places that opened up to the closed walls until he found his way out.

Ben was waiting in the car, chain smoking, for Jack. This was all going to hell in that proverbial handbasket. Kaylie's mother was going to kill them. He shook his head as he drummed along the steering wheel with his fingertips, not liking all the twists and turns of the day. He liked predictability, which was why he was living as a normal human in Corpus Christi. Why his business ran like clockwork. Even his house did! This wasn't fitting into his well established pattern, and he swore he was about to break out in hives because of it.

Jack made it back to the car. No closer to finding Kaylie than when he had arrived. "They want me." He said, his jaw twitching. "Sorry son of a bitch works for my mother's family. It's fucking Hendrickson."

"What?" Ben said and swore under his breath. He wasn't going to blame Dean for this, he wasn't going ot blame Dean for this. He repeated that over and over until finally it sounded like a mantra. But Hendrickson would never have found Jack if Dean hadn't been on trial, and if Dean hadn't found Jack first. "Okay, so we're in mystic territory. Might have to call in a few demons for that one. I've got a few that owe me some favors."

Jack explained the conversation and what he had done in order to get out of that warehouse. "He says I have to find where she is. God, Ben... he thinks I am some sort of wizard or something. I'm not sure the man isn't the craziest one out of the whole psycho lot." 

Ben refrained from telling Jack that he was probably right. That Hendrickson probably was the craziest one in the bunch. "Okay, so we're back to square one." He said as he drove back. "So we'll go home, and we'll lay everything out that we have. See what we can piece together."

Jack nodded. He was drained. He had spent weeks worried about Dean while he awaited trial in prison. The jury was still out, so it was still possible that his brother could be sentenced to death, and now this nightmare with Kaylie. Anything new added to his plate and Jack was going to freak. Completely wig out in front of God and everyone. He wasn't sure he could deal with it all at once.

Ben drove back to the house and laid the picture out. And wrote down everything he could remember that Jack told him. And he had a good memory. "Okay, this is what I've got. Add your stuff in there, and we'll see where we stand." Because Jack had to do something. Since the task at hand was to figure everything out himself, this seemed like a good place to start. If nothing else, Jack would feel like he was doing something as Ben answered the phone.

"Oh, hey, Theresa." He said, Kaylie's mom. "Yeah, Kaylie's off getting some take out for us. Yeah, I know. I'll have her call, but you know how kids are." He said. He'd already paid off Kaylie's boss to tell the Inghams nothing. 

Jack wrote down everything he had seen at the warehouse and looked over the list time and again. "He's trying to wake things up in me I think... and I don't want it to wake up." He thought in that moment he could actually get where Sam was coming from. "You know it sucks being blessed with understanding." He said. 

"I've been there a time or two." Ben said with a nod as he looked over the list again. He'd never taken a side one way or another in Sam's decision to leave everything and everyone behind. Because he knew how it felt to feel you were a danger to everything and everyone you held dear. But he also knew what it felt like to be left behind, when someone you loved went somewhere that you couldn't follow. 

"Well, you got out of the warehouse. That's one thing they were looking for. Now they're waiting for you to find your girlfriend. It's like a treasure hunt or something."

"Yeah. But I have always hated scavenger hunts." He picked up the list and started looking over it again. "Okay... everything so far has been about opening up that... whatever it is inside me.. that I am going to lock up and throw away the key to when this is all done." If for no other reason than spite. They kidnapped Kaylie. As far as he was concerned their ancestral fires could go out. He wasn't going to forgive and forget his one. "Guess I should meditate again before trying to figure this out."

"It might help. Liquor might help too." Ben offered. One never knew, and he'd exploit whatever avenue he could right now to help Jack. He tore up the paper, so that each detail was separate and just started arranging them. Hendrickson hadn't given Jack anything else to go on, which meant everything Jack needed, he already had. Somehow.

"Whether it helps my abilities, I don't know... but it sure as hell will help my nerves." He said as he got up to get a glass of scotch. "No messages on the machine right? No calls I missed?" Wouldn't do to miss the reading of the verdict. Dean didn't know there was anything wrong and Jack wanted it to stay that way. He wouldn't put it past his brother to attempt an escape if he knew. 

"No, the jury's still out." Ben said as he helped himself to some alcohol himself. "Okay, so go ahead and meditate or whatever you're going to do. I'm going to go make food." He didn't need to eat, but he liked to. As opposed to Jack, who did need to eat whether he liked it or not. 

Jack groaned at the thought of food, and downed half of the scotch as he tried to let himself back into that receptive state of mind. Looking over everything again and again until his head ached. 

Ben stopped at the doorway and watched. Not interrupting. Jack was looking over everything again and again, and rearranging the strips of paper Ben had made. Without touching them. He didn't even realize he was doing it it seemed. So when Jack finally sat back with a frustrated sigh, Ben put a sandwich in his hand. 

"Eat it. Because you passing out from hunger is hardly heroic when you find her. You're supposed to carry the girl out, not the other way around." He said, as he looked at the newly organized strips. "Good job." He said as he wrote down the first letter of each strip on a pad of paper.

"What?" Jack asked, coming out of a sort of trance like state when the sandwich hit his hand. "What did you figure out?" He asked looking over at what Ben was writing.

"I told you you weren't ordinary." Ben said with a chuckle. "Okay, might be an anagram." He said, handing the pad to Jack. "First letter of first line from the strips. Which you moved around by the way. Play with it a bit."

"We are definately finding a way to turn this off once this is all over and done with. I like being ordinary." He said as he looked at the letters, focusing on them, for now trying to open himself up to this mystical world as much as possible. If that was what was going to find Kaylie, then that was what he was going to do. There was time to find a way to reverse the whole process later. "We'll see what we can do." Ben said as he ate. Because if he ate, he hoped Jack would follow by example, even unconsciously. And he was gratified when some of the sandwich found its way into Jack's mouth.

Finally, after a long while, Jack wrote down a word that aligned with a location in town. "Oh you gotta be kidding me." Ben said and sat back. It was the construction site for the sports bar Ben was opening. The ground was broken, and a few walls were up.

"And we are off again. But I don't think we will find her there." Jack said as he headed for the door. "Too easy. This guy is playing some serious fucking game with me. Probably just another clue." "You're probably right, but we've got no choice but to follow the schizophrenic road." Ben said as he grabbed his keys. They drove to the groundbreaking site, the construction workers had left for the day, and he grabbed a flashlight. "Okay, well, at least I get to do a site check."

Jack was glad to have Ben with him this time as he started to walk around the site, opening himself up to God only knew what. He hated this. Hated his mother's family for doing this. Bad enough they sent their pit bull after his brother, but to go after his girlfriend, that was beyond low, and far more evil than he wanted to think about. 

There was nothing to open himself up to, for a representative from the family was there in the flesh. Sitting on a folding chair deep within the center of the structure. "Hello, John." She said, her voice soft, but firm as it carried through. Her face was the ageless face that many Chinese got when they aged, eyes edged with wisdom, black hair pulled back into simple twist as she looked at John. She glared at Ben, and the air seemed to electrify for a moment before it calmed back down. "My name is Mei. I am your mother's aunt."

"I prefer Jack. Can't say it's nice to meet you. Not real fond of kidnappers. Where is Kaylie?" He asked bluntly. He wasn't in the mood for this. He knew the woman would have killed Ben right then if she had the power to do it. Had probably just tried with whatever that was that charged the air. No, it didn't help his mood or bring on warm and fuzzy feelings at all.

Ben snorted and chuckled at Mei's attempt as he lit a cigarette. If he were that easy to kill, he would have been dead long ago. Mei pointedly ignored him. "We do regret the distress this has caused you. Your girlfriend is unharmed, she won't remember a thing when she is released. Of that I promise, she's spent the time in a slumber." Mei said, her accented voice echoing through the room. "I suppose you look more like your father."

"I do. You abandoned my mother. You kidnapped my girlfriend and you attempted some spell, presumably to kill my foster father. Do you have anything good, or pleasant, to say to me that is going to make that suddenly not matter to me anymore? Cause if not, you can just bring Kaylie here, wake her up and get the hell out of my life."

"So much anger." Mei said, shaking her head. "Your girlfriend has not been harmed. She's resting. No harm will come to her, we try to keep innocents out of our line of fire. She must indeed be a special girl for you to feel so strongly about. It had been bandied about that perhaps it was just a teenage infatuation, but I suppose not. And that's good. It is. But Hendrickson put this into play, he was after another and stumbled upon you. He overstepped his bounds, he will be punished. Though we are glad to have finally found you."

"Fine. He's going to be punished. Great. Give me Kaylie back and then try knocking on my front door, maybe a phone call or a post card... I don't care but this isn't going to happen anymore. I am not a hound for you to leash. And that's what this is. Kaylie's abduction, the implication that Dean will be hurt if I don't heel. "

"If we had called, would you have answered?" She said, getting out of the chair and standing in front of him. She stood barely five feet tall, a bit shorter than Kaylie, and looked up at him. "We had no clue on your existance because of your...guardian. He made sure of that." 

"For good reason." Ben added, watching the scene carefully. "Must suck for you people, think you're so high and mighty and you can't even best one lowly demon."

"If you had loved my mother enough to find out what she really was instead of tossing her to the wolves... tossing us to the wolves... maybe she would still be here, and maybe... just maybe I would have cared if you had called. You don't want me. You want a replacement part. "

"Come with me to Hong Kong." She said, dismissing and ignoring Ben. "We'll release Miss Inghams, and you can finally meet your family."

"Like hell." Ben growled. "He's got a family." 

"He's got a criminal, a demon, and who knows what the other one really is." Mei said. "Those are people he knows. Not family. His family is in Hong Kong waiting for him."

"News flash, kidnapping is a crime." He told her pointedly. "Even for blue blooded freaks of nature. So back off my family and release Kaylie. My family wants to meet me, they can meet me on my terms. You don't get to walk into my life and disrupt it after you abandoned us. I don't want to be like you. I don't want to have some sort of power that makes people think they can use and abuse people however they want. You don't release her... or you hurt her... there will be no chance in hell of me ever even considering meeting with the rest of you people. I am not going to be bullied by you or anyone else. Then there is the fact that if I go with you... I'm going to be the one kept prisoner. Don't think I can't read your kind a mile away. "

"My kind?" Mei asked, amused. "You are so young. Far too young to even think that you know half of what you don't know. My kind is your kind. We're not going away. You are a Hsiao, you were born a Hsiao and you will die a Hsiao. As will your children. This unrelenting stand is so American."

"Yeah well, welcome to America." He said. "And to set the record straight, my last name is the only thing Hsiao about me. I'm a Winchester. I'm not your kind. I don't care what abilities your pit bull is trying to awaken in me. I'm not a kidnapper, not someone who will reject my children, not someone who uses innocent people to try and bend anothers will. Let. Her. Go. "

"Try to awaken? You found this place, didn't you? Found the warehouse, and the way out of the warehouse, correct? Oh, Jack, there is so much for you to learn." Mei said. 

"Lady, I'd let the girl go before he decides to show you just how American he is." Ben said.

"I was not talking to you." She said to Ben, but didn't look at him. "You've done your job, he was raised healthy and alive. For that we thank you. You may go now."

"That isn't your choice." Jack said, starting to think maybe he had to go with her. He couldn't let Kaylie stay in some magically induced coma for the rest of her life. But he would be giving himself over into slavery to save her, and that scared him. "Why won't you just do this like a human being ? Treat me like a human being not some dog you let someone else train for you. Why is it impossible for you to try honey instead of vinegar? All of this screams at me that you are evil. Horribly evil. And I don't mean that in the slang sense. " 

"We are not evil. We are your family. And blood has always been thicker than everything else in the world." Mei said. "We have your attention. We plan to keep it. When we call, you will talk to us." She said and walked away into a shadow. Seemingly disappearing, until they heard a car drive away. She had slipped out.

"For fuck's sake." Ben said, running a hand through his hair. "Come on, let's go home. See what else we can figure out."

Jack was shell shocked. "She says they aren't evil, yet they are doing this." He shook his head. "This is what my mother grew up with?" He turned and walked back to the car on auto pilot. "Blood isn't that thick." He grumbled. "Not on its own." 

"Actually blood isn't thick at all. I hate that analogy. It's only thick when it hits the air and starts to coagulate." Ben said, just filling space. "Cut it with some snapps, and it's actually good. Forget I said that, that was a long time ago." He said with a chuckle as Jack's cell phone rang. "Better answer that, we're dancing to their tune right now, whether we like it or not."

"Remind me to shoot the piper." He said and opened his phone "Hello?" He said, expecting it to be Hendrickson or his aunt. Not really wanting to speak to either of them again. He didn't trust himself not to say something out of line. He had been pushing that line to this point, and had nearly crossed it.

"Jack?" Kaylie said, relief and panic clear in her voice. "Jack, I don't know what happened. One minute I was waiting for the vending machine, the next minute I'm still at the vending machine except it's dark and everyone's gone. And the place is locked up tight, and I don't know what happened!"

"Kaylie?" He said his tone nearly matching hers. "Ben pull over... she is back at the vending machine and locked in. Can you go get her?" He ran a hand through his dark hair. "Are you alright? You aren't hurt are you?"

"No, no I'm fine. I just don't know what happened." Kaylie said.

Ben had pulled over and left in his own way. The next thing Jack heard was "Ben!" then Kaylie and Ben appeared outside the car. Kaylie was holding the soda she had bought, she had come...aware...still holding the money for the soda, which was how she got the quarters to call Jack.

Jack was out of the car in an instant, pulling Kaylie to him tightly. "Thank god you're alright." He breathed. "I thought for sure he had hurt you." He kissed her hair, closing his eyes very nearly falling over as the tension left his body.

Kaylie clung to Jack, she was completely confused. "It was two o'clock, then it was night. I don't understand." She said. She was wearing the same sun dress and thin cardigan sweater she had been in the courthouse. Even her perfume was still fresh.

He explained everything that had happened since she had left them in the court house. "I am so sorry." He said, still not letting go of her. As though she could disappear again if he let go.

"Can we cover all this at the house?" Ben said. It was a little too cool out for his liking. "Come on, Jack, let's get her back so she can call her parents." Better than standing out in the middle of a construction site.

Kaylie was trying to understand, but she had two days missing out of her life. How does someone understand that? But she nodded at Ben's suggestion. "Come on." She said. The backseat was perfect, she could continue to hold onto Jack as she tried to make sense of it.

Jack was in a daze the entire ride back to the house, but he never once let go of her. "I was certain I had lost you." He said, even if that loss was going to be his being trapped in Hong Kong in order to free her. At least now he was only trapped into taking their phone calls. They still weren't going to like what he had to say in response but he would take the calls. 

"I didn't even know I was gone." Kaylie said softly. For her, it was as if no time had passed. But when they got back to Ben's, the phone was ringing. "You know that's for you." Ben said to Jack. "Come on, Kaylie, let's get you some thing to eat."

Jack sighed heavily and went to answer the phone. "Hello?" He asked, hoping for a wrong number but knowing he wasn't going to get that lucky. Mei's voice carried over the line. "She is returned to you, safe and sound. It is a lovely match, I'm sure. We've kept our end of the deal, do you not agree?"

"Yes." Jack said. "And I am listening...so I am keeping mine." He wasn't going to let them play this into a power position. A nice cold war maybe but not a real power position.

"That's good." Mei said. "See, we can behave like normal, civilized humans. Amazing, isn't it? You have gifts, Jack. As much as you try to bury them and deny them. As they come out, we can teach you how to use them. We can guide you, if you will let us."

"You are going to have to earn my trust first." He told her honestly. "And I have no idea how hard that's going to be. It's not like I can tell you which hoops to jump through because that's... me setting demands not you proving you can be trusted. This whole kidnapping thing has been one giant step backwards."

"She wasn't hurt. She had a nice rest, she looked so tired when she came." Mei said smoothly. "It does not have to be this way. But you're making it so. You are the last one to carry on the line, until you have children. Do you want us to approach your children?"

"Hmm... no remorse... for kidnapping an innocent woman. No regret for abandoning my mother when she needed her family, and now you threaten my as yet unborn children. Nice... beginning to think my mother's evil ways didn't come from the demon that possessed my grandfather. " He said. "Look... I'm not making you do anything. I'm wanting to get to know you when I am not angry or under duress and we can take it from there. Making threats... isn't going to work. Because you know what...anything happens to anyone else... well who knows what I might do in a moment of guilt ridden angst. Could end the line entirely." 

"I was not threatening you or your children." Mei said placatingly. "I was merely stating the fact that when things start happening they will have questions that we can answer. That's all. But getting to know each other on a fresh foot is a good idea."

"Good. Right now things are a little crazy for me... so ahm... Sunday... we could meet for dinner on Sunday. " He thought it would be sane enough. He hoped.

"That would be nice. Perhaps your grandfather would join us." Mei said. "Where shall we meet?" Preferably not the demon's house.

He named a restaurant that he knew in town. One that was nice, crowded yet allowing for private conversation. "If my brother is released, I will be bringing him with me." He figured Ben would have another way of keeping tabs on the situation. But he didn't trust them yet and he wasn't going to meet with them alone.

"Your...brother," she nearly tripped over the word, "knows nothing. Not what you are, where you came from, or Hendrickson. Perhaps it should stay that way? Look how his father reacted to your mother over what he didn't understand."

Jack actually laughed at that. "Yeah.. pretty much the same way you people did. My father knew about her ... what ever you want to call it... witchcraft, abilities... what ever. What he freaked about was the fact that she was a nephilim..." He said. "Hypocritical much? It's either Dean or Ben... take your pick."

"I"m sure your brother will be a charming dinner companion. He looks so well behaved on television." Mei said with a sigh. "Then we will see you on Sunday."

"I will see you then... 6pm." He said and then hung up. "Here's hoping Dean is actually available for Sunday dinner and not sunning himself on a beach with no extradition." He muttered heading toward the dining room and his real family. 

++++++

Dean barely slept. The jury had been out for two days, and even Regan was starting to look anxious. Well, anxious for her, at any rate. He'd catch snatches here and there, and he was being kept on the death row. Not because he was waiting execution (he hoped) but because it was quiet, and had maximum security. After all, he just might be a mad psycho killer. But he had his own cell. And talked a few of the guards into playing poker for M&Ms to pass the time. 

But it was on one of his snatches of sleep that the end of his cot was kicked. Which was strange. No one came into his cell, again because he might be a mad psycho killer trained by a mad psycho militant survivalist. When he opened his eyes, he sat up quickly and pushed his back against the wall, legs bent incase he had to kick. "What are you doing here?" He asked Hendrickson.

"Came to pay you one last visit. We never did get to finish that interview. Don't think I will be needing to wait for your lawyer anymore." He said then spoke a word, to ensure no sounds escaped the cell. 

Dean got up and looked around. "I don't have anything to say to you. Other than you need to get a life." He said, keeping as much space between him and Hendrickson as possible. "You don't want a mark on me, looks really bad. Because you know my lawyer will make sure it's shown off. Police brutality and all."

"I'm not a cop. In case you haven't noticed, I'm a wanted man." He said stepping closer, slamming Dean into the wall of his cell. "And no matter what your lawyer tries to convince the jury of, we both know the truth. You are nothing but a monster in men's clothing." 

Dean punched Hendrickson and got off the wall. "Bullshit. You think you know so much about me. You don't know shit." He said. "I'd go if I were you. Would hate for me to go all psycho on you."

"Actually, I would like for you to do just that. It's in your blood after all. Would just prove my point that you are less than nothing. " He said returning the blow.  
"Even the youngest brother will be leaving you soon. His real family has found him and he won't need you much longer. Where will that leave you, Winchester? With nothing, and no one." 

Dean gave him a long look and wiped the blood off his lip. Then he laid back down on the cot. "Go ahead, Hendrickson. You just made my night. You wouldn't be in here if the jury was going to sentence me to death. So I get to walk out of here a free man, and then I'll find you." He said as he crossed his ankles and laced his fingers behind his head. "You can show yourself out. I'm not playing your game."

"Who says I'm waiting for the jury to make up it's mind?" He said darkly and started toward the bed, with every intention of killing Dean Winchester. Then suddenly faded completely from view.

"Winchester... get a move on." The guard said. "Jury is in."

Dean exhaled. "Got it." He said as his suit was carefully pushed through the bars. He dressed, managing to button his shirt with shaking hands. Twelve people he didn't know were going to say today if he lived or died. So instead he concentrated on the pain in his face and how he was going to pay back Hendrickson for that. He wasn't sure Hendrickson was human. He hoped not. Because if he wasn't, Dean could utterly destroy him. 

"Ready." He said, banging on the door and sticking his hands out the slot to be cuffed. He knew the procedure. 

The jury was in. 


	9. Chapter 9

-1Regan frowned looking over at Dean. "Please tell me you didn't start it." She said as she looked at his face. A bruise forming around his busted lip."How many witnesses were there?"

She didn't like this. Not one bit. Dean shouldn't have been able to be harmed on death row. That was why they had him there in the first place. "Yeah, I started it. Threw the first punch." Dean said honestly. "Decked Hendrickson right across his yappy little mouth. Don't know how he got in, but I watched him disappear." He shook his head as he reached into the ice pitcher on the table provided for the lawyers and dug out a piece of ice to hold to his lip. "Literally disappear, into thin fucking air."

"Fine." She said in a whispered growl. "Don't say a word about Hendrickson until I check a few things out. Looks like you aren't rid of me once this is over after all." She was being optimistic. It had looked good until the jury had taken so long to deliberate. Which meant that they weren't convinced of his innocence. It took a unanimous vote for the death penalty. She hoped that wasn't what they were holding out so long for. It would be a shame to lose Ben as a client when they disappeared.

"All rise." The bailiff said as the judge entered the room. Dean felt himself break into a cold sweat as he stood up, watching the jury file into the jury box. The judge came in, and everyone sat down. Dean was so focused on the jury, trying to figure out what they were thinking, Regan had to tug on his sleeve so he'd sit down. He looked back at Jack, sitting behind him and exhaled. This was it.  
The bailiff brought the piece of paper to the judge who looked it over and nodded, sending it back to the foreman, then asked Dean to stand to hear the verdict.

"On the charge of murder in the first, Not guilty." The foreman said, and read down the list, naming each crime, and the verdict. "Not guilty." Dean's head snapped around at the first not guilty, and he exhaled with each following not guilty. Then, the stress was over. The stress he'd been living under ever since a drawing of him first popped up on the news. That was incredible stress he hoped no one else ever had to go through. At the last not guilty, his knees finally gave out and he sank into the chair, stunned, elated, free. Nothing like a taste of true freedom to remember what it was like.

Jack reached over the banister between him and his brother and lay his hand on Dean's shoulder. "It's over man... really over." He told him, tears of relief welling in his even if not falling. 

_SNSNSNSN_

"Yes!" Sam yelled out, let out the breath he had been holding through out the reading of the verdict. "Yes." He repeated, hands trembling as he picked up the phone and called Bobby Singer. "He's free." He said without preamble.

"I'm watching it." Bobby said. "Maybe now that this trial is over I can cancel this cable shit." He wasn't a big TV watcher, and had gotten one, with Court TV, just for Dean's trial. "But he's free. It's finally over. You did good, kid."

"Can you let him know... you know... " Sam said, nearly choking up. It was so hard to be so far away from him now. When he was sure Dean needed him. But going back would only get him killed and he couldn't risk that.

"Sam, if I tell him what happened, maybe he can find a loophole." Bobby said gently. "He's good at that, you know."

"NO!" Sam said quickly. "Look... if he found out that I did this to keep him alive, he wouldn't bother looking for the loop hole before showing up." He sighed. "I almost went too far when I cleared his name. The demon went nuts. If Dean and I were to ever be in the same place at the same time... no... it would come back and finish what it started. I couldn't live with that. " He swallowed. "Besides... he doesn't need to be back on the road with me... he has a chance at a life now. I don't want to screw that up for him."

"Sam, your brother has always been on the road, long before he became a wanted man." Bobby pointed out. "The only thing he gained now was the ability to take highways and go through checkpoints. That's it. Sam, you're his brother."

"I know... and it's my turn to look out for his best interests for a change. No matter how much it hurts not to see him... it's not worth watching him die for."

"He's looking for you, you know." Bobby said. "I don't know if he's getting close at all, he won't tell me, because he knows you keep in contact with me."

"I know." Sam said. "He wouldn't be Dean if he wasn't looking. But thankfully there is no telling where I will be when. I don't even know that much. So I think he is safe for now."

"Father Pavel's keeping you pretty busy then? That's good. You boys get in less trouble when you're kept busy." Bobby said with a sigh, feeling like he was letting John down somehow.

"Yeah... I ahm... was baptized last week. It didn't hurt as much as it could have but ... I'm glad I didn't wait any longer. Before long I will be done with my training and can head out on my own."

"That's good, Sam, real good." Bobby said, but couldn't help but fixate on the fact that John's boys were torn apart, never to see each other again, until Sam had become his brother's worst nightmare. "Your dad was a closet Catholic I think. Deep down."

"Almost have to be, being a hunter." Sam said " I wish he had told us sooner Bobby... might have had a choice if I had known sooner." He didn't blame his father. It wasnt Johns fault what he was, he just ... wished things were different.

"Well, he wanted you boys well balanced. How often have you used more pagan symbology for example?" Bobby said. "Don't think he was ever baptized as anything, or if he was, he never told me."

He hadn't meant about religion... but he was happy to let Bobby think otherwise. "Anyway... let Dean know that I was watching and I'm happy for him. And... I wouldn't have let them... execute him." It was important for him that Dean know that just because he was gone, he hadn't really abandoned him. "But I need to catch up with Father Pavel. I haven't been at this exorcism cause I wanted to see what happened with Dean. "

"Your father loved you, Sam. You were his son." Bobby said quickly. "Just as much as Dean was."

"Yeah." Sam said tightly. "I know... I have a lot of memories that say he loved me. That didn't mean he believed in me or trusted me. Didn't even want to say good bye. " Sam shook his head. "It's... it's water under the bridge."

"He didn't believe in saying good bye to anyone." Bobby pointed out gently. "But water under the bridge it is, but he was proud of you Sam. Couldn't stop talking about you when you were gone. Just thought you should know, again, before you go into another exorcism."

"Thanks... like I said... tell Dean I ... you know." He said, feeling it needed to be said, even though it wasn't in either of them to say it or hear it directly. "Thanks Bobby. For everything."

He hung up the phone and headed out to the rental car. The exorcism was taking place out in the country. Farm house. Which suited Sam fine usually. That meant fewer questions from neighbors, fewer visits from the police when things got wild. But something about this felt off the moment he arrived at the scene. It wasn't anything he could put his finger on but it was definitely not right.

Father Pavel was coming outside for a breather, looking pale from strain, when Sam pulled up. "I take it your brother is fine?" He asked in his gentle way. "Good." It was obvious, or Sam wouldn't be here. He'd be figuring a way to get Dean off death row without breaking his deal with his demon. "The exorcism is...not progressing." Father Pavel looked up at the sky. "And forces are moving in. Can you feel it?"

Sam nodded, frowning. "These people the sort to have weapons? Because I have a feeling I am going to need them." He could go get his gear easily, but he didn't like the idea of leaving them here in the mean time.

"There are rifles and hunting gear." Father Pavel said. "Along with farm equipment. You'd be amazed what a good thresher could do." He shook his head. "I hate it when they delay in contacting us. The demon within has had time to call in reinforcements."

"Well you take care of the demon and I'll take care of the reinforcements." Sam said with a grin. This was something he had been needing for a while, not that he would ever admit it... he needed a good fight. Something to get the adrenaline pumping and his blood racing in his veins.

He entered the farm house and let the priest make introductions before he started asking about the weapons and such things as Salt and hopefully rocksalt. "Well, we're on a low salt diet." The wife said. It was their teenage son who needed the exorcism.

Her husband scratched his balding head. "I've got some salt I put out on the driveway if you think that will help. All stocked up for winter, plus a surplus from last winter." He said. "That might work." They thought their son was mentally ill, that's why they had delayed. Only when the treatments failed to work, and really only made things worse, had they sought help from the Church. "It's in the tool shed out back."

Sam headed out to the tool shed and came back with a bag of course salt, and a few other implements. He paused to line the front porch with salt then did the same as he came in the front door. "I need someone to line salt along all the window sills." He said as he gathered the rest of the weapons available to him. "Is there a daylight basement or an attic here?"

"There's an attic and a storm cellar." The wife said as Father Pavel's voice could be heard reciting the ritual,and her son, but not her son's voice, fighting it. Every foul word causing her to physically wince. "Attic's at the end of the hall, cellar can't be reached from inside the house."

"Okay. I need everyone to stay away from the windows as much as possible, I know this is ... a horrific experience for you... and I wish I could make it easier for you ... but the demon has managed to call for reinforcements. The best thing you can do, is stay as calm as possible, and don't go outside or anywhere else alone for now."

The husband nodded. "I think we'll go into the closet." He said, where he'd be less likely to hear the obscenities his son was screaming, where his wife wouldn't have to see whatever else was coming.

"What did we do? What did we do to deserve this?" The wife wailed.

Sam paused in his preparations. "You didn't do anything to deserve this. " He told her gently. "This isn't a punishment from God or anyone else. No matter what the demon possessing your son has said to you... this isn't your fault. " He said then resumed his work wanting to make sure the place was as secure as possible. 

He headed up to the attic first, figuring he could slide down to the basement from up there. One demon had already gotten in, before Sam could salt it down.

"Well, well." It said in a silky voice, neither male nor female. Body black as night and disjointed as it moved. "So it lives and breathes, the exorcizing demon." A yellow tongue came between its lips and licked the dry flesh, sounding like two pieces of sandpaper rubbing together. "Have you come to stop us?"

Sam ignored the demon comment. He wasn't a demon ... yet... and he knew it. "I'll be living and breathing a hell of a lot longer than you if you don't get the hell out of here." He said pouring salt along the threshold and closing the door, the demon wouldnt get past him to the house below.

"Now you're hardly playing fair." The demon said, approaching him with its disjointed, painful to watch gait. "What do these mortals mean to you? How can they mean much? Soon they'll be playthings for you. How can you deny me the basest instinct of mine...and yours? Can't you feel it? Humming along your bones? And all you have is salt. You can still cross the salt, imagine what you could do."

"I would rather do it to you." He said darkly, eyes flashing strangely in the darkness. Not that he had truly noticed it was dark. Night and Day were slowly becoming one in that respect. He reached out with his mind and shoved the demon against the wall. It had been a long time since he had truly let the darkness out to play, and that had been Meg.

He tried so hard to be the old Sam. The sensitive, Sam who loved to laugh and enjoy the moments in life. But he didnt know if that Sam existed any longer. If all there was left of him was a veneer like skin that hung over the darkness inside him.

"Then bring it." The demon said, leering at the flashing eyes. "So far gone and you don't even know it! Your presence alone is undermining the exorcism. It's so delightful!" It took a swipe at Sam with its hands...more like claws with razor sharp talons for fingers.

"Oh come on." Sam said drawing the knife he had carried up with him, as he jumped away from her claws. "Is that the best you can do? With my life, the best you can throw at me is the exorcism bit? " He said kicking out at her, wanting to keep those claws away from the soft chewy bits. " That's pretty sad."

"Oh I could say someone other than who you think has his eyes on your older brother. And the ability to do it." It said, flipping out of the way, appendages seeming to grate against each other audibly as it landed. "And your younger brother is in a whole heap of trouble. His girlfriend is such an easy target. But if you cared, you'd be there, right?"

"Except that caring is why I am here. Not there. I'm not as vulnerable as I used to be. At least not to the likes of you." He said and then began to cant Saint Michael's prayer. It stung a little, but nothing he couldn't handle. Life was pain after all. It collapsed to what could be its knees. "Do you feel the burning?" It cried, its voice harsher and rougher as it keened. "You will soon. You'll burn like the rest of us." 

"That's what I'm counting on." He said and started anew, focusing on the words, on thier meaning... on the being he was calling to his aid.

The demon was disappointed. It had counted on batting Winchester around like a rag doll at least. It was also in pain as the holy flames engulfed it, the crackling of its flesh soon drowning out the screams.

Sam watched as the creature died, no remorse in its passing. Only curiosity. Had it once been like him?

He salted the attic windows and slid through the shadows to the basement.

_SNSNSNSN_

Jack looked at his brother, beaming broadly at him. "Okay, what does the newly free and clear man want for dinner tonight? We have got to celebrate."

"You mean they don't make cards for fugitives that get off of death row with not only an acquittal but a government apology?" Dean said, smirking as he stood in the waiting room of the prison. Getting all his stuff back. Sure, he'd been arrested in a hospital gown, so Jack had to bring over clothes, but there was his protection amulet, the talisman he wore around his wrists, and his thumb ring. Weaponry to pad himself with were outside he knew. "You know what we should do. We should have a cook out on the beach." He was over walls right now. The last few hours, before Hendrickson showed up, he could feel them pressing in on him. And he wasn't normally claustrophobic. "Get some steaks, some beer, couple of friends with their own liquor, girls in bikinis...could be fun."

"Sounds like a plan." He said. "And while we are putting all of this together, I can tell you all about the excitement that happened while waiting for the jury to come back."

"Excitement?" Dean said with a lifted eyebrow as he shrugged his jacket on and handed Jack one of the boxes of peanut M&Ms he'd recieved from strangers while in prison. "There wasn't supposed to be excitement while I was locked up." That didn't sound good at all.

"Would have definitely been my preference to have no excitement." He said as they started walking out. He waited until they got to the parking lot and over to Dean's Baby (Jack had brought his car for him, figuring he had missed it as much as he had missed sunshine right then.) to begin explaining about Maggie's family and Kaylie's abduction.

"Son a bitch." Dean said, shaking his head. "Can't go to prison in peace, can I? Okay, Kaylie's back." There was that, at least. And hearing Maggie's name, well, that didn't exactly make his day. Though it was brightened by a circular inspection of his baby. "Aww, I missed you too sweetheart." He said to the car before looking back at Jack. "Okay, so where does that leave us?"

"Having Sunday dinner with the psycho family. They say they want to get to know me. You're going with me." He said tossing Dean the keys and getting into the passenger's seat.

Dean caught the keys. "You're kidding me. We have to go break bread with the family that abandoned you and probably had a good deal to do with the creation of the thing that tortured me?" Dean said as he slid behind the wheel. "And my acquittal is a good thing...why?"

"Because then you don't have to make a fiery exit from death row with a put out fire demon."Jack said. "He likes Corpus Christi, and really didn't want to relocate the whole family. "

"You know, why do you have to be so logical?" Dean said with a chuckle as he started the car, listening to the engine rumble then idle down to a purr with contentment. "Fine, we'll go have dinner. You so owe me though."

Jack laughed. "We'll see." He said, figuring Dean had given him enough stress and worry for the last few weeks that it was even... but things were never even in family. Not really.

"No, there's no we'll see. You owe me. Which means you can buy my share of the beer for the beach." Dean said. He wasn't big on actual favors and debts. He knew when it would count, Jack would have his back. Didn't mean he wouldn't extort for a little free beer though.

Jack laughed then. "Like you have money right now anyway." He said. "And don't worry, the beach party will definitely be funded. And Kaylie will probably take over the prep anyway. She is good at that sort of thing... although I will probably go with her. Doubt Ben will want to go shopping." He didn't let Kaylie go anywhere alone right now. He didn't trust his mother's family, didn't trust Hendrickson not to retaliate.

Dean laughed. Wondering how long Kaylie was going to take being hovered over. Oh well, better her than him, right? "You're a good brother." He said. "Sorry I put you through, you know, hell and everything."

"It's alright. Not your fault... although I could say that if you had taken care of that flu before it got so bad, we wouldn't have come to this point to begin wth... but then you would still be hiding out, so it's just as well."

"Dude, it was all Ben's idea to bring me to the hospital. So we'll blame him. He's old, he can take it." Dean joked as he pulled out of the prison parking lot, flipping up his rearview mirror and adjusting the side mirrors so he didn't see it. This definitely counted as a 'don't look back' moment.

"Yeah but then you have to thank him for saving your life... and then for hiring that barracuda to defend you...wow she was something else, wasn't she... "

"You have no idea. Try being in a locked room with her as she lectures you on how to sit up straight." Dean said. "That woman is scary. And I don't scare easy." He joked. Or maybe he was joking! "So Kaylie's all right?"

"Yeah. She has no memory of any of it. Slept through the whole ordeal thank god. They said the son of a bitch was going to be punished but I don't believe them. I think they are probably patting him on the back right now."

"He'll get his." Dean said. "I don't think he's human. He disappeared from my cell. In front of my eyes. Means if he's not human, I can take care of him. I owe the son of a bitch some pay back anyway. If the family is nice and above board, they'll make it easy for me to find him."

"They abandoned my mother and kidnapped my girlfriend. Not counting on nice and above board. And once they are out of time, I am going to find a way to shut down what ever it is they are trying to wake up in me. I don't want that life, I like the one I have."

Dean nodded his agreement. "There's always ways, we'll find them." It was Jack's choice after all. "So is Ben on Kaylie watch? Poor guy. She likes to talk while he watches TV."

He laughed. "Yeah but it's too early in the day for Alias so she isn't going to annoy him too much." He shook his head in amazement as Dean's cell phone rang. "It's like someone has radar. You are not going out of town on a hunt... I don't care who is on that phone." He said with a laugh.

"Dude, it could be a girl looking for a hook up. After a few weeks of solitary, I am so there." He said as he fished out his cellphone. He didn't recognize the number as he answered it. "Yeah." He said, with a chuckle. His spirits were still high, not every day you got to walk off death row after all.

"Dean, it's Bobby. Figured this would be about long enough for you to be out of your cage. How ya doin'?" He asked, he had worried about Dean. He had never handled being trapped well.

"I'm good. Got my car, got my freedom, no jail sentence, avoided the needle, can't exactly complain." Dean said. "What's up, Bobby? You're not one for social calls or small talk, and Jack said if I went on a hunt right now he'd attempt to kick my ass."

"I just wanted to check up on you... all things being equal... and to let you know Sam's alright. I got a call from him right after the verdict was read. He was watching. Said to tell you... you know... what ever that means."

Dean nodded. "Yeah. Next time you talk to him, tell him, you know right back atcha, bitch. Word for word, Bobby. Especially the bitch part." He said with a laugh. "That's the most important part, okay?"

"Okay... will do." Bobby said. "You know he was the one that took care of all the evidence, right? He's still trying to look out for you... has been all along." He wished he could tell Dean out right what Sam had done, but he couldn't.

"Yeah, well, I still owe him a beat down." Dean said. "And I plan to give it to him too...if I can find the guy." That was the main problem. "I had a feeling, when all that hardcore evidence disappeared and Ballard didn't remember me. I like to think I'm pretty memorable you know."

"I am sure she remembered you." Bobby said. "I thought the girl from St Louis was going to break on the stand though."

"Whoa, Bobby...you got a TV? Now? Not back when, say, I was a kid and really wanted to watch it?" Dean said with a laugh. "So it takes me in a federal murder trial to catch you up to at least the mid twentieth century? Nice."

"Don't get too excited, it's a rental. It and the cable are going away as soon as I can get 'em out here to get it." Bobby said. "So you're doing okay? You need anything?"

"Well, I need my brother to pay me back the beer money he owes me. And I'd like him to buy a round as I celebrate getting off death row, but gee, you won't tell me where he is, remember?" Dean said pointedly.

"Right now I don't know where he is, Dean. When he calls, I try and talk sense into him. I promise. He had plans to get you out of there if things didn't go your way. If that tells you how far things have progressed."

Dean ran a hand over his face. "Yeah, I get that." He said. "Ben had an idea also, involved a tropical island, Victoria Secret models and all the rum he could possibly drink. I'm actually pretty glad no one had to do anything to break me out of federal prison." In the eyes of the law, that would have sealed his guilt. No, things had to play out as they had. "Bobby...how is he?"

"He is doing well on the surface. Holding on to his humanity with both hands, but it's taking its toll. He misses you. It's obvious whenever I talk to him. The priest says he is doing well, coming along quickly in his studies... kicking demons out of little girls..."

"That's Sammy, knight in shining armor." Dean said with a dry laugh. "I've been tracking the exorcisms, haven't found a path yet, but I will." He believed that too. "I'm going to get drunk tonight, probably relax for a couple of days, then it's back to work on that."

"I'd help but ... if he found out, we'd lose the one connection we have with him right now. " Bobby needed to keep a monitor on Sam's mental state... the state of his humanity really. Cause once the boy went dark someone had to watch out for Dean.

"I know, I know. Watching out for both of John's boys." Dean said with a roll of his eyes. "Listen, Bobby, I'll call you when I'm hung over, okay?" He said and hung up the phone before he said something he might regret. Like that he knew what Bobby was doing, but it was so stupid! If Sam went dark, the first person he'd come after would probably be Dean. And if Dean wasn't near Sam to watch the fall, he'd have no idea it was coming. But he sighed and looked at Jack as he drove. "We stayed with Bobby a lot when we were growing up. I swear he didn't know we had individual names until AFTER Sammy was in college. Until then we were just 'John's boys.'"

Jack laughed. "Guess thats the hazard of having siblings." He said as they pulled into the driveway. "So unless you want Kaylie making all the decisions about tonight's get away to the beach.. probably time to speak now for preferences."

"Steak. Beer. Chips. Girls in bikinis. Nice huge bonfire, maybe we can put some M&Ms on the s'mores." Dean said with a laugh. "Not like I don't have enough M&Ms, right?" He put the Impala in park and got out, stretching. Even the air felt good right now.

Kaylie came out and gave Dean a hug. "Welcome home." She said. Then she smacked him.

"Whoa, what the hell was that for?" "For nearly getting my boyfriend arrested. For making him practice medicine without a license, for worry, I don't know, pick one." She said, but smiled.

"Dude, she's psycho." Dean said.

"Yeah well count yourself lucky that she likes you. If she didn't you wouldn't believe how miserable she could make you."

"You know, I believe it." Dean said.

"Oh please, you owe me this big huge thank you. Who do you think helped move that wreck of yours into the garage before our last storm? And your baby?" Kaylie said. "Jack helped a little." She said with a grin to Jack. Jack had pushed, Kaylie had steered.

"Yeah she was steering. I was just the guy at the back of the car straining his back." He said with a laugh. "I hardly did anything at all."

"I'm going to let you make it up to her. You know, that whole not being helpful thing." Dean said with a laugh as he grabbed a box of M&Ms to bring up to his place above the garage. "Oh, Kaylie. Mission for you. Cook out on the beach. Gonna need supplies."

Kaylie grinned. "And it's supposed to be warm out tonight too." Not that it ever got frigid. "I'll see what I can come up with." 

"Thanks honey." Jack said. "Your car or mine?" He said, waggling his eyebrows playfully. He wasn't letting her go off alone. Not so soon after what had happened.

"I don't know. You know, Dean's car has a nice big back seat..." Kaylie teased.

"People! I just got out of prison! You're not supposed to be talking about sex because I've gone, like, a month without it." Dean said. "That's just cruel and inhumane."

Jack laughed. "Yeah ... well I will just leave you to wonder if we have or haven't already explored the depths of your cars back seat. While I go and help her get the stuff for your get out of jail free party."

"Free?" Kaylie said with a giggle. "Might have to ask Ben that." She said as she looped her arm through Jack's. "We'll take your car. Mine's full of crap."

"Have fun you kids, while I take Lysol to my friend here. You know, just in case." Dean said.

_SNSNSNSN_

Sam finished up salting the openings in the attic and then stepped into the shadows to appear in the basement below. They might not be able to get into the house from the basement but they could cause all sorts of trouble down there. or rip their way up through the floor.

There were a few demons and other spirits down there, waiting to rip through the floor. They might not be able to access the house, but they could tear through and cause trouble that way. Either way they were getting into that house. One of them smirked (kinda) at Sam as he appeared. "Come to join the party? Oh wait, you think you're good. I forgot."

"Yeah, well, never said you were a bright race. That's what I'm going to miss the most when I shift over. My intelligence."

"Shift over? You don't have that far to go exorcist." The demon sneered. "You know that. You feel the burn, the pain,with every word that crosses your lips." He backhanded Sam across the basement. "You'd be wise to just disappear now."  
"Not while I still have a soul." Sam said as he rose, wiping the blood from his face, then strode in to fight the demon the old fashioned way. He was surprised by how much his strength had increased.

The demon laughed with what could be considered glee as he traded blows with Sam. Taunting and teasing and mocking with every blocked shot. Sam was strong, certainly. But he was stronger.

He didn't know if he would have the strength to take them all on, but he would give it his best, even if it was his last. Pushing himself and the demon before finally giving in and speaking the holy words.

"Traitor!" The demon screeched as he covered his ears, as the demons around him started to screech and keen. "This will be done to you. Just remember what it feels like..."

Sam didn't stop. He didn't care that it hurt, that it seemed to burn through him like fire. It was what he had to do... it was the only way he knew to hang onto his own soul, his own humanity.

The demons attacked Sam in full force with whatever they had left in them as they were attacked with the vile holy ritual. Screeching in pain, writhing in agony as they attacked with whatever they had.

Sam struggled to maintain the ritual, his soul ached with each word. Not from the pain but from the sure and certain knowledge that this was the way he would meet his own end.

He sank to the floor as the battle was done. The throbbing burning pain dissipated, until he was left with only the physical pain. He held his ribs with one hand and pushed himself up with the other, moving to secure the basement entrance before sliding back to the attic and walking down. The mundanes didn't need to know what he could do. It would only scare them at this point.

Hell it scared him.

Father Pavel came out, into the kitchen, wiping his face with a handkerchief. He saw Sam and smiled wearily. "It is finished. The boy is free." He said as he went to rap on the door to the closet where his parents were hiding in.

"Thank God." Sam said and settled to the floor once more. He was pretty sure his ribs were bruised at the very least, broken more likely, and he didn't want to think what could be causing the pain in his abdomen. Right now he just didn't want to think.

Father Pavel moved over to Sam's side, after assuring the frightened parents that their boy would be all right, with time. "Child, perhaps our next stop should be to a hospital?" He suggested.

"I'm fine." Sam said, trying to imitate Dean's confidence when delivering that particular lie, trying and failing. "Just... just a little bruising is all."

"Just a little bruising that will be checked out at the hospital. Good Catholic hospital, the nuns there know that an exorcism is taking place here. They will be very discreet in their dealings with us." Father Pavel said, standing up. "Do you require more help? Because I'll have to call them." He was an old man, and a whole lot shorter than Sam, after all.

"I ... I can make it back to the car I think." Sam said, wincing as he got to his feet. "I think." He said as he reached out to steady himself with the furniture.

Father Pavel supported Sam as much as he could back to the car. Then he called one of the sisters at the hospital and made arrangements to come in to have Sam looked at. "The demons came out in full force, didn't they? In support of the possessing one." He observed as Sam held his side.

Sam nodded as he got back into the car "Oh yeah. in the attic and then in the cellar. " He groaned as he fastened the seat belt. He felt woozy and that was never good.

Father Pavel gave him a worried look, and drove a little faster. At the hospital, the car was surrounded by nuns and missionaries who were doing their service at the hospital. "He's been hurt." Father Pavel said, parking the car. "The ribs, maybe something in his stomach." He got that from what Sam would hold and bend over.

Sam let them ease him onto a gurney, and closed his eyes as they took him into the emergency room. He breathed through the pain in his abdomen, trying to pretend it wasnt as bad as it was.

They worked on him for a bit. They did a lavage, which came back positive for internal bleeding. Then they took him into surgery, knocking him out before he could argue.

Father Pavel prayed in the surgical waiting room as they worked on him.

_SNSNSN_

Sam opened his eyes and Dean shook his head. "Dude, you look like shit." He said.

"Dean." Sam said smiling weakly relieved to see his brother. God he had missed him so much, but the smile quickly faded as he tried to sit up. "Man, you have to get out of here. You can't be here."

Dean easily pushed him back down with a hand on Sam's shoulder. "Shut up. You're just going to make things worse, then the nurses will come in, kick me out, drug you up and try to have their way with you. And they're really not hot at all."

Dean said with a laugh. "So, as your big brother, I have to save you from that awful fate." He said, pulling a chair over to the bedside and sitting on it, propping his feet up on Sam's bed.

"How did you find me?" Sam asked looking around the room. "Block that door closed." They didn't need company. Dean was going to get himself killed. "If it was Bobby, I swear I will kill him."

"Dude, that's not very nice." Dean said. "Besides, I'm first in line to kill the son of a bitch, because he wouldn't tell me where you are. Ever. Even on threats of death. Come on, Sam. You really thought you could get yourself all banged up and I wouldn't come one way or another?"

"Then how did you find me?" Sam asked. "Dean... the demon... it's going to kill you if it finds out we were in the same room." He said, this time using the controls on the bed to sit up. "That's the only reason I've stayed away."

Dean waved Sam off. "Dude, you've got to relax. You're so anal retentive, sometimes I'm amazed we're related. I got it covered. When have you known me not to cover my own ass as often as I could. Winchesters, we're good at making deals, aren't we?"

"Dude, you never cover your own ass. " Sam said then groaned deeply at a sudden pain. "So... I watched the trial. That was pretty intense. Thought for a while there I was going to have to come save your ass."

"Nah, I had it covered. Really, come on. If it had started to go sour, do you really think any jail could have held me?" Dean pointed out. "I would have been long gone before the jury got to read its verdict. Hendrickson, he's not human though. Watch out."

"Not human? Doesn't that just figure?" He shook his head. "So... you know...this doesn't change anything... I'm losing it man...exorcisms hurt... praying ... hurts... holy water stings like a bitch... you can't stay."

"You worry too much. Like a girl, by the way." Dean said. "Just gotta hold on, man. I'll figure something out. Got all sorts of people working on it. But if it hurts so much, why do it? Still hung up on the good-bad ledger sheet or something?"

"Doing an exorcism... it costs a little bit of the soul." Sam said "I'd rather those little bits of my soul be upwardly mobile if you catch my meaning, cause its slipping away no matter what I do."

"And you still don't believe that I'll save you." Dean said and shook his head. "That makes you a pretty ungrateful little shit, you know that, right? M&M?" He said, offering the yellow bag.

"No... it makes me a realist. I'm grateful for everything you have sacrificed for me, Dean. I am... more than you could ever imagine. But you can't change what I am... what I ... how I was concieved. You can't turn back time and exorcise Dad before he goes home and... anyway... that's what it would take to save me, Dean. If there was anything that could be done, don't you think Dad would have done it?"

"I'm not Dad. Bobby says I'm actually more hard headed and stubborn than him." Dean said with a quirk of a smile. "I'll do it, Sammy. You staying away from me is not going to change that. You sacrificing bits of your soul for the greater good is not going to change that. Believe me, even if it kills me, I'm going to save you."

"Dean... you being here is going to get you killed. You will die trying to save me from something ... that there is no salvation for. It's just what I am."

Dean swung his feet off the bed and grabbed his brother by the front of his hospital gown. "Shut the hell up. Especially about that. You are MY brother. That's what you are. My brother. You are Sam Winchester, brother of Dean Winchester. The rest, it's just semantics." Dean said. "And I don't want you believing otherwise."

"Those semantics have me walking in the shadows, and throwing things around like rag dolls. Semantics burn like hell." Sam said angrily. " Being your brother doesn't make me immune, Dean. No matter how much you wish it did. I'm a monster. Dad knew it. That's why he told you to take care of it... cause no one else will be able to get close enough."

"Dad was a bastard. There I said it." Dean shot back, just as angry. "And he told me to SAVE you. And if I couldn't, then kill you. But I can, Sammy. And I will. You're not a monster. Being my brother does give you immunity to that. Because I know you, dude. No matter how dark you think you're getting, there will always be a flicker of light. And I need you to hold onto that."

Sams eyes welled with tears. "I'm trying Dean. But I am so damned tired." He didn't know if he could hold out if the demon kept his word and killed Dean because of this visit. Losing Dean, REALLY losing Dean, would destroy what was left of his will to hang on.

"I know, I know." Dean said and released Sam. And grabbed his hands instead. "But you are going to stay strong. And I will save you. Now I gotta go and you gotta wake up. 'kay?"

"Wake up? Dean what are you talking about?" Sam asked, groaning a little as the pain started to filter through the haze. "You're not really here, are you?" He said, not sure if he was relieved or wanted to cry.

"I'm always here, Sam. You know that." Dean said as he got up and headed for the door. "You know that."

"Dean!" He called out, but his eyes opened to the light of the real world, not the dream, and he blinked back the tears, jaw held tight. But the sob escaped anyway.

Father Pavel put down his rosary and looked at Sam. "I can call a nurse in here and medicate you for the pain." He said softly, as he watched Sam carefully. "You just underwent surgery, they had to repair bleeding, but the doctors say you will be fine."

"I'm good." Sam said. He didn't want to sleep again. Waking up was too hard.

"How long have I been out?" He asked, feeling his brother's absence now more than ever.

"Eight hours." Father Pavel said. "Probably the best sleep you have gotten in a while. Though they were all worried, that you slept so long. But you are a fighter. You would not let demons get you down, how could anyone expect a little internal bleeding and a few fractured ribs to pull you under, correct?"

"I was enjoying the dreams." Sam said with a faint smile. "Although I think next time they delay in calling us in ... we'll start with the protections, then move on into the exorcism."

"That would probably be the best thing." Father Pavel agreed and offered Sam ice chips. All he could have, but the boy's mouth must be dry. "But I think they might have us on a bit of a sabbatical now. At least until we are sure that you are healed properly." Exorcisms were dangerous enough, it was foolhardy to do one when one was impaired in any way.

"I'm sorry." He said. He knew that it wasn't his fault, but he felt so ragged, that it was as good an excuse as any to put his feelings of guilt on. Guilt over his brother, guilt at wishing the dream had been real, even if it had meant having to fight the demon when neither of them could.

"There is nothing to apologize for. A rest is needed, for both of us." Father Pavel said. He was starting to admit, if only to himself, that he was no longer young enough to do the back to back exorcisms that he had done for his whole career.

Sam nodded. "Not used to being in this position. No wonder Dean is always trying to escape the hospital." He said as he adjusted uncomfortably in the bed.

"Just relax." Father Pavel soothed. "Once the doctors clear you, we will retire to a cottage the Church keeps for retreats. It's on a lake, and quite peaceful."

"I could use a bit of quiet and peaceful." He hadn't been at the trial but it had worn him thin as much as the long list of exorcisms had. He hated that the enemy would have a chance to gain ground while he retreated but there wasn't anything he could do about it. "And maybe more of that pain medication after all. "

"I will get the nurse." Father Pavel said, rising stiffly to his feet. He'd been seated, praying, for a long time waiting for Sam to come around. 

"Thank you." Sam said. Meaning for more than just getting the nurse. Even though he wondered if it might not have been better to have just died of his wounds and had it done with before he could become the enemy.

_SNSNSN_

"Seriously, I'll be okay." Dean was saying to Jack and Kaylie as he walked them to Jack's car. "I just...I don't know, want to spend the night somewhere without walls, you know?" And the beach did not have walls.

"I'll come back once I get Kaylie home." Jack said. He didn't think it was a good idea for Dean to be out there alone with Hendrickson gunning for him.

"Dude, I'll be fine. Salt circle. Shot gun. Talismen. I'm good." Dean said with a chuckle. "Just go have wild crazy sex in places OTHER than my car, okay?"

"If you disappear on me, or something else happens to you... you know that I will have to hurt you later. Enough stress from you already, you got that?" Jack teased.

"Yeah, yeah. Got it, Mom." Dean said with a chuckle. "Better watch it, your hair's awful dark. It'll go gray so freaking fast. Now go, go have fun or whatever it is you do when you're not pestering me." He teased backed.

"Yeah... right... See you tomorrow morning." Because there was no way he wasn't going to come check on him, with Hendrickson still at large.

Dean laughed, but was gratified to see the car pull away. He really had to get working on the older Impala, Jack needed a new car, and soon he was going to need one badly! But he made his camp, which consisted of beer in close reach, junk food on the other side, and his sleeping bag. It was warm enough that he unzipped it and spread it out (because sleeping on rough sand was never as pleasant as it looked on TV), kicked off his boots, set his weaponry up in easy reach, and let the ocean air, unimpeded by prison walls, lull him to sleep.

"Hello, Boy." Came the familiar voice. His mother's voice, but it wasn't his mother who spoke. "We have a trip to make." The Bear said.

"Dude, a trip? I just got out of prison." Dean said with a chuckle as he stood up and pulled his boots back on. Sure, it was all in his head, but he liked his boots on. Last time showed so clearly why even here he might have to kick a little ass.

"The first part you cannot change... it has already happened." She said. "Merely looking at echoes. But it's important for you to see." She told him. "Climb on my back."

"You know, when I told my dad I wanted a pony when I was eight, this wasn't what I meant." Dean said as he got on the bear's back. This had to be the strangest thing his subconscious had ever done. Next thing he knew he was in basement of some house. Probably a storm cellar, because there was no stairs to the house itself. "Sammy, watch out!" He said, realizing belatedly that this was an echo, and Sam couldn't hear him.

"_Come to join the party? Oh wait, you think you're good. I forgot." _

_  
"Yeah, well, never said you were a bright race. That's what I'm going to miss the most when I shift over. My intelligence." _

_  
_ _"Shift over? You don't have that far to go exorcist." The demon sneered. "You know that. You feel the burn, the pain, with every word that crosses your lips." He backhanded Sam across the basement. "You'd be wise to just disappear now." _

_  
"Not while I still have a soul." Sam said as he rose, wiping the blood from his face, then strode in to fight the demon the old fashioned way. He was surprised by how much his strength had increased. _

_The demon laughed with what could be considered glee as he traded blows with Sam. Taunting and teasing and mocking with every blocked shot. Sam was strong, certainly. But he was stronger._

_  
He didn't know if he would have the strength to take them all on, but he would give it his best, even if it was his last. Pushing himself and the demon before finally giving in and speaking the holy words. _

_"Traitor!" The demon screeched as he covered his ears, as the demons around him started to screech and keen. "This will be done to you. Just remember what it feels like..."_

_  
Sam didn't stop. He didn't care that it hurt, that it seemed to burn through him like fire. It was what he had to do... it was the only way he knew to hang onto his own soul, his own humanity. _

_The demons attacked Sam in full force with whatever they had left in him as they were attacked with the vile holy ritual. Screeching in pain, writhing in agony as they attacked with whatever they had. _

_Sam struggled to maintain the ritual, his soul ached with each word. Not from the pain but from the sure and certain knowledge that this was the way he would meet his own end._

He sank to the floor as the battle was done. The throbbing burning pain dissipated, until he was left with only the physical pain. He held his ribs with one hand and pushed himself up with the other, moving to secure the basement entrance before sliding back to the attic . 

The scene shifted once more, to Sam in an operating room, while the doctors worked to undo the damage done to him internally. Then they wheeled him into recovery, and later to his own small room, where the aging (ancient looking) priest sat in prayer.

"You can speak to him...he will hear you in his sleep. See you in his dreams." Dean swallowed. He had just seen more of his brother than he ever wanted to. Like internally inner organ type. But he stood at his brother's bedside, looking down at his pale face worriedly. "Dude, you look like shit."

"Dean... how did you find me?" Sam asked quietly, trying to sit up in the hospital bed and failing.

"Dude, it's a dream." Dean said and pulled a chair over. "I have a friend who works those kinds of tricks. But I guess I'm really here as far as you're concerned." He looked over his brother worriedly. "Had me going there for a bit. Thought you were going to leave me as the only Winchester left." Jack didn't count, not really. His last name was Hsiao. 

"Nah... not yet. It's inevitable you know... one day there is only going to be one of us." He said as he adjusted in the bed.

"Sam, it was almost you." Dean finally admitted. "Even with the evidence gone...juries are funny things...I was nearly executed. I know it. Sometimes, I could almost feel it."

"I wouldn't have let that happen. You gotta believe that man."

"Sam...I was scared." He said softly. And it was true, Dean Winchester didn't scare easily. Sometimes, not at all. "All that time to think, I don't do well with time to think."

"Yeah... I can identify." Sam said with an attempted laugh. "But it's over now. You're safe. You get to go on about your life. You get to do what ever it is that YOU wanted. With out any of this over your head. Dude, you gotta grab that with both hands."

"You know, it's just really not the same. I've never had a plan for my life. Just kinda went from one job to the next and hoped I'd live through it." Dean said. "And now you're not there, and Jack tries, but he can't annoy me and piss me off and frustrate me as well as you can. Not to mention as easily as you can."

"Give him time. He'll figure out your buttons. He's a bright boy." Sam told him. "I do miss you."

"Sam, a part of me would have been fine with execution. A very small part, but a part." Dean said. "Everything's falling apart, I can't fix it. You tell me to do whatever it is that I want, but I don't even know what I want. I mean, I want my family as together as it can be, but I can't get that. Wish the yellow eyed demon contracts a painful nasty case of syphillis and herpes and dies in agony, doubt I'm going to get that."

"Maybe you should...I don't know... find YOU in all of this. You've always been about me and Dad. You would give, do, or sacrifice anything for us... maybe it's time to be a little selfish. Find out who Dean Winchester really is."

"Damn, that could be a scary answer. If you caught any of Gordon's testimony, I'm a nutcase waiting to explode." Dean said and shook his head. "I just don't know, Sam. The world made sense when it was me, you and Dad. Now Dad's gone, you won't come near me, and nothing makes sense."

"It's for your own good, Dean. I don't want to hurt you. I mean... really hurt you. You are not a nutcase. You are not waiting to explode. You're just a little lost is all. You'll find your way. You always do, Dean. "

"I've always had a destination. Find Dad. Find you. Find the demon. The next job, the next girl, the next drink." Dean said. He was a driven person, not in the way of ambition. But he always had something driving him. "You're really not coming back on your own, are you?"

"I can't, Dean. You won't do what needs to be done, and when I become like her... you know I won't hesitate. I have to stay away... have to let you, I don't know... learn things I don't, prepare, make it harder for me to hurt you... I don't want to be the last one standing, Dean. Especially not if it's because of my own hands."

"It won't be." Dean said. "We'll get through this. Just give us time, all right." Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the bear. "Time for me to go. Must be time for you to wake up, since we know I can sleep all day."

"Be careful out there, alright? I miss ya, man." "I'm always careful, dude." Dean said. Though he was really only habitually careful of Sam. Himself? Well, he was disposable, wasn't he?

"Liar." Sam said. "Don't be a jerk."

"Can't help it. Anymore than you can help being a bitch." Dean said with a smirk. He looked at the bear. "I have to go now, don't I?" He asked, sounding amazingly childlike with his very much grown up voice. But he didn't want to go.

"Yes." She said and the dream faded, leaving them standing in the room with the priest, as Sam came to calling out his brother's name. "We have to go. You will see him again." The bear promised. "Climb on my back."

It had been a risk, bringing the brothers together. They had each taken what they needed from the contact. Taken the comfort they needed from one another, even if it was only the phantoms of thier minds triggered by the close proximity. But it needed to be done. That bond needed to remain in tact no matter how long they were apart. With out it, everything was lost.

Dean climbed on, but man was it a bumpy ride. He thought he was going to get thrown off a couple of times, only to come to with Jack shaking his shoulders.


	10. Chapter 10

-1Dean climbed on, but man was it a bumpy ride. He thought he was going to get thrown off a couple of times, only to come to with Jack shaking his shoulders. "Dude, get off." Dean said, waking up slowly. Though he didn't want to.

"Do you have any idea how long I have been trying to wake you up?" Jack asked, looking more than a little pale. "How much did you drink last night?"

"Who knows?" Dean said with a forced chuckle as he rubbed his eyes. But dammit he didn't want to wake up. He knew where Jack was. And he'd finally found Sammy, if only in his head. "Hey, I've got, like, a month of drinking to make up for."

"Don't scare me like that. " He said with a sigh, then picked up the bag of donuts and set it in front of Dean, along with the cup of coffee. "Breakfast?"

Dean chuckled. "Sure." He said and took the coffee and opened the bag, taking a donut. "You're up awfully early. Don't tell me Kaylie's losing her touch."

"Couldn't sleep." Jack confessed. "Something felt odd last night. Felt like I was being watched. Which is probably just me being paranoid but... with everything that's been going on... I get to be paranoid."

"Dude, you don't think your crazy whack job aunt was watching you have sex with your girlfriend, do you?" Dean said, with a way too innocent and shocked face to be serious. "That's just wrong."

"That would be seriously creepy. No I don't think she was watching us have sex, I just... it's just a feeling. waiting for the other shoe to drop ya know. "

"Yeah, believe me I know." Dean said as he stared pensively out at the ocean. "Jack, do you have your life planned out, or are you just living moment to moment, hoping two moments from now you're still breathing?"

"More or less planned out. Plans changed though. I dropped the business major and opted for medicine instead. Plan to get married one day, have a home, blonde haired green eyed children, maybe a dog and a couple of cats."

"Yeah, you've got a good shot at accomplishing that too." Dean said with a laugh. Ben and Dean considered it a given they'd be planning a bachelor party at some point. Just waiting for Jack to get the nerve up was all. "Course, the kids could have dark hair and dark eyes, in which case you'd pretty much have failed at your life plan. I don't even know how to come up with a plan for next week, never mind life."

"That's cause you haven't let yourself dream." Jack said."Life plans... it's all about getting to that dream. I've always wanted a family... a real family of my own. I guess it's a small dream compared to most people, but it's mine. So everything has been built around that... you just gotta let yourself really dream."

Dean chuckled. Dream? He did that. Then he woke up. Though, sure, he'd had some really good dreams not involving Sam (not even close, not even anywhere close). "I don't know. Maybe I'll be a beach bum.

"It's easy... except for that whole food, shelter and booze thing. All that crap that costs money." Jack said with a smile. "You'll figure something out. Even if it's just how to legally support your rock salt habit."

"Dude, the government is going to pay that for me." Dean said with a laugh. "Oh, you missed that part. Hush money. Gotta love it. You know, for being persecuted and nearly executed." He took the paper out of his pocket, naming the amount, and passed it to Jack. "That's a shitload of rocksalt right there."

"Man, that's a house of your own, maybe a garage... AND enough rocksalt and Tequila for a year or three. " It wouldn't keep Dean in high style but it could get him a good start in life. If that was what he wanted. "And all I have to do is limit my statements to one statement on how I'm happy to be exonerated blah blah blah. But I wasn't even planning on doing THAT. No talk shows for this guy." Dean said with a laugh. "I don't know. Gives me some leeway for whatever I decide, right? When I decide it. Definitely pays for car parts."

"There is that. Could get the wreck fixed up easy with that. I don't know, man... I would give it some serious thought as to what you want out of life cause this nest egg here could make up for some lost time for you."

"Guess it's as good a time as any to be a little selfish." Dean said, echoing his other brother's words, even if Jack didn't know that. "Find out who Dean Winchester actually is other than what he's made sure everyone else sees."

Jack nodded. "Yeah... it is." He smiled. "Who knows? You might actually like that guy when you figure out who he is."

"I might." Dean said. "Or I'll hate his guts, in which case the government can still pay for the tequila. It evens out. So we're doing this dinner thing for real? They didn't by chance call to cancel while you weren't sleeping?"

"I wish they would cancel. I don't know what the hell makes them think I will come around. They abandoned my mom. It's one thing for her hunter boyfriend that wasn't in love with her in the first place to kick her to the curb but for her own parents to do it? That's messed up. Then there is the whole kidnapping fiasco. I would so rather have dinner with an angry porcupine in a phone booth."

"Dude, there's better applications for one of those old fashioned phone booths you know." Dean said, shaking his head. "Well, it's in public. And I got your back. It'll be fine. Free food too. Hard to turn down free food as long as they didn't make it."

"True enough, and I picked the restaurant so it's going to be good food too." He said shaking his head. "And you know... I think after dinner we are taking you over to the club and letting you hit on the girls for a while. Someone will take pity on you and take you home for the night cause... man... you obviously need to get laid if what I said made you think of sex."

"Gee thanks." Dean said with a chuckle. "I bet I can get my own girl though, that has nothing to do with anyone taking pity on me." Because women wanted it just as bad as men did, they just chose to never admit it. "Dude, I just got out of prison. Where the kind of sex I'm into, well, it doesn't happen. So I've been denied, deprived..."

"For a month. Hardly long enough for anything to turn blue. Admit it... you are obsessed." Jack teased.

"And it's a good obsession. Really." Dean said with a laugh. "Even when I was in the hospital, I never went a month without sex. You think just out of prison is a good line, you should see I was just in a major car accident."

"Man... you scare me." Jack said with a laugh. "So what do you want to do today? I have the weekend free then it's back to classes on monday. Thankfully they were willing to be understanding with that whole brother on trial thing."

"Dude, that's low. Using me as an excuse to get out of homework and all that. And I don't get anything out of the deal." Dean said. "I don't know. I got some beer to finish up, tequila bottle to open up...and just...wow...breathe. I haven't actually done that for a while."

"Dude, you get plenty out of the deal."Jack said with a laugh, indicating the paper Dean had showed him earlier. "Regan gets her cut, and a lot of publicity... Ben gets another excuse to bitch, which we both know makes him happy ... me? I get ulcers and behind in class."

"Oh you got lots of sympathy sex, don't even start." Dean said with a laugh. "Ulcers? She'll cook something that won't bother your stomach. Behind in class, I'm sure she'll help you study. Geez, try to play the pity card much? That's my game, bro."

"Then she that got kidnapped? Ha! She is mad at me for hovering too much." He said, although she was more frustrated than mad. "It's all good. And if you wanted to get someone to do all those things for you... the trick is to ask a girl out more than once."

"And why would I do that?" Dean said with a smirk. Though, really, he had an undeniable fear of them leaving. So if he left first, no one could leave him. Jack had a good luck streak going that he was family, therefore he didn't apply to the above conclusion. "Well, better her than me. Because my aim is much better."

"Nice." Jack said. "My brother is a man whore who would shoot me for being over protective. The things ya find out about a guy."

"Aw come on, not like I'd shoot to kill. Just shoot to stun with a tranq dart or something. Something so I can get away." Dean teased. "You know, run off with one of Ben's girls for the weekend. I'd return her by Monday."

"I don't know, you go off with chicks and wind up in intensive care- dying on us." Jack teased. "Then again... I think the torture that Carla would put you through would be of a much less traumatic nature." He said referring to one of Ben's kinkier dancers.

"Hey, there was this one nurse's aide in the ICU...she was pretty frisky. Had a thing for guys so banged up they weren't recognizable." Dean said with a smirk. "See what happens when you go off for coffee and don't return for a few hours?"

"You are such a slut." Jack said with a laugh. "Can you even remember how many women you have been with? Have you had an AIDS test? Wow...you know... I have had one girlfriend... One... since before my voice changed. "

"The prison gave me the full work up. No AIDS, hepatitis, TB, herpes, clap. syphillis...I'm clean. Well, at least that way. Mind completely in the gutter." Dean said. "Yeah, you and Kaylie are adorable. And I might be able to come up with a number." If he thought hard enough, but eventually they just blended all together in his mind. "But you're happy, right?"

"Very much so. It wasn't a complaint. It was just a comparison." Jack said. "I don't need variety. I got lucky enough to find the real thing early. Don't get me wrong, I'm all guy and I find other women attractive, indulge in the occasional fantasy that Kaylie would kill me for, well... if I acted on it anyway... but she's all I need. All I really want. "

"Then good for you." Dean said and clapped his brother on the shoulder. "Don't let me rub off on you then. God knows anyone with Winchester DNA is dysfunctional enough without adding more problems than you need to. See, my thing is relationships. Sam's got that whole demon thing, and nephalim thing. You've got abandonment by parents, raised by a demon and now some freaky ass magical powers. I'll take the women thing."

"I am so not getting into the freaky ass magical powers. I don't mind the seeing magic thing... that can be useful but using it ... that's another story. I think you and I... we have the same problem... just deal with it in the reverse. Abandonment. You push people away before they can get close and hurt you.. I hang on for dear life. I tell you it's a miracle I'm not some sort of stalker or something. I don't let go easy." He laughed.

"Oh really? Hadn't noticed." Dean said with a laugh. "You just checked on your incredibly above age brother, who can definitely take care of himself, because you're so easy going in that department. But seriously, it's okay to let Kaylie go to the bathroom without timing her."

"Yeah... at home." He said. "She went for a soda... in a crowded courthouse... and poof she was gone." Jack shook his head, still not dealing with it well. "I don't think any one is as safe as they think they are."

"I heard a quote once, I forget where. Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they're not out to get you." Dean said. "Vigilance can be good, but you get carried away with it and start building a bunker or something, and people start issuing restraining orders. All I'm saying, dude."

"I know... not that far gone... I mean I don't follow her everywhere, I don't monitor her every move but... My mother's family is evil. They sent Hendrickson after you... thank God that had nothing to do with me... but they kidnapped her in broad daylight in a secure building. I don't know how to protect her against that. Not without giving in to them."

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, I'll be sending a nice message to them through Hendrickson." Dean said. Since he was sure Hendrickson wasn't human, that made him fair game, right? Besides, it was needed. Hendrickson talked smack about his father, hounded Dean and Sam around the country, then kidnapped the baby brother's girlfriend. That wasn't allowed to stand.

SNSNSN

Sam looked at the tray of liquid and wrinkled his nose. Broth, juice, coffee without cream. Not so much as a cracker. He sighed. His stomach said it was far hungrier than that but he knew it was lying. Especially when he took a spoon full of the broth and it actually took effort to get it down.

"I don't know if I can handle this vacation thing." Sam said to the aging priest.

"Nonsense. It's good for you." Father Pavel said with a chuckle as he took a seat at the bedside. "I know, it's hard. But when you can outrun me, we'll talk about getting back to work."

"Depends on what's on our heels. You would be surprised how fast I can run when injured or half dead." He said with a faint laugh of his own.

"I can run fast in those circumstances also." Father Pavel said with a chuckle. "You're doing well from what I hear. A lot of that medical stuff flies over my head, but I understand the terms progressing well."

"That's what they say, then they feed me... this." He said with a half a smile, pushing aside the broth in favor of something hopefully more palatable.

"Oh you poor child." Father Pavel said. "Imagine the horror of doctors and nurses and your friends doing what is best for you. I suppose they could not feed you at all, and you can survive on the intravenous things if you really want to. I'll just tell the kitchen not to bother anymore."

Sam laughed and winced, between the bruised and busted ribs and his incision. It really hurt to laugh, but it felt good on a different level. "So tell me about this vacation spot we are going to?"

"Very peaceful. It's a retreat we use on a lake, when we need some time away to just reflect. It's not overly religious, we've kept the statuary to a contemplation garden only." Father Pavel said. "The sunrise over the lake is one of the most remarkable things I've ever seen. There are ducks that make their home there. Once, I saw a family of swans."

"Sounds nice... the sort of place that would drive my brother insane after the first day." He said with a smile. Dean was on his thoughts a great deal. Even more since that dream. It had been so real... as though he were really there.

"Ah, the brother that is at home in a noisy bar." Father Pavel said with a laugh. "Yes, that sort of rest would get on his nerves fairly quickly I would believe. But it might be good for him too. But people have their own way of finding peace."

"I don't think we ever really looked for peace. Just...a moment of not fighting. Everytime it got too peaceful, of things started going too well... that's when all hell usually broke loose... sometimes literally."

"Yes, I can also see that too." Father Pavel said. "There is no hell on the lake though. Just recovery and quiet."

"Now if they would just spring me out of here... you know we can cut out of here early... I'll be good. " He said giving his best puppy dog eyes, and laughing at the look he recieved in return.

"The doctors said you were progressing. But they did have their hands in your gut for a few hours. Perhaps a little bit more rest here with the nice staff here wouldn't be such a bad thing?" Father Pavel said with a twinkle in his eye. "I heard they use restraints for the more difficult patients."

"Somehow... that doesn't sound as fun to me as it would to Dean... of course that could be because the nurses are nuns." Sam said, easing back against the pillows. "Not that... that would... stop Dean."

SNSNSN

Sunday was up on him sooner than he liked. Jack wasn't up for this dinner. He wasn't up for this whole new aspect of his family. He probably could have forgiven the whole tossing his mother to the wolves thing. He had sort of forgiven his father posthumously. But kidnapping Kaylie and going after his brother for no reason He could define... definitely made him uncomfy. 

"So you ready for this?" He asked as he helped Dean unpack his beach gear from the car. "Sure." Dean said. "It's not a big deal. We eat, she buys us food, we pretend to listen to her, and if she gets annoying, we leave. Stop making a big production out of everything." He teased as he lugged his sleeping bag out of the trunk.

"I'm not... I just... It wigs me out is all. Still pissed beyond belief about the whole abduction thing. I hate that there is no way to make them pay for that. "

"Sure there is. Subject them to your completely rude and unmannered older brother. Not all pay back has to be violent after all." Dean said. "It'll be fine. Come on, ready? I'll drive."

Jack laughed at that. "And to think the woman chose you over Ben. I gave them the option you know. Only when she objected about me bringing any one along at all. But hello, I wasn't born yesterday. Not going in there alone."

"Maybe she's not a fan of second hand smoke." Dean said with a laugh. "I'm surprised you chose me, thought for sure you'd go with Kaylie. Hope you don't expect sex, because you are completely NOT my type."

"Oh yeah... that would be good, take Kaylie back into the lion's den. Not giving them a second chance at her. I know that's insane and paranoid but seriously would you let someone you cared about go have dinner with their kidnapper?"

"Probably not." Dean said with a laugh. "Just letting you know this is a sex free evening is all. Come on, let's go so we can get a little drunk before they show up. Or at least me, I act worse the more alcohol I have, and I definitely do not want to make a good impression."

Jack shook his head as he got into the car. "Man... even if you werent my brother... wouldn't go there with someone else's equipment. God only knows where that thing has been." He teased back.

"On many a delightful journey." Dean said as he pulled out and headed to the restaurant. He pulled in and got out. "Well, here we go. Could always change your mind you know."

"No... this was the price to get Kaylie back. I'll go. But unless they break out some sort of genuine charm... we won't be back a second time." He said as he got out as well. 

It wasn't one of his favorite restaurants but it was a good one. "Reservation for Hsiao." He said and they were led to a table and menus set on the table before them.

Dean was completely unaccustomed to places that took reservations. But he shifted a bit in his chair, with his beat up jeans, biker boots, worn tee shirt covered by a flannel and ordered a beer. At least the place served beer.

Then Mei, and an older gentleman approached the table. "Hello, Jack. We are glad you could come." Mei said. "I told you your grandfather might come."

Jack rose, because it was polite. He nodded to his aunt, and grandfather, locking gazes with Teneke Hsiao. The man who had made the decision to cast his mother to the wolves. Who was ultimately responsible for the abduction, for Hendrickson. "Yeah... Nice to meet you." It wasn't, but manners so often required little white lies.

Teneke bowed his head. "And it is very nice to finally meet you." He sat down, then Mei did. "I understand your trepidation."

"Trepidation? Dude, you kidnapped his girlfriend." Dean said. "Not to mention sent your little hitman after me, his brother. Not exactly the best way to get in the family way with a guy you know."

Teneke leveled an even gaze on the oldest Winchester. "And you must be Dean Winchester. Son of John Winchester." He said calmly.

"Yeah... my brother." Jack said as he took his seat. "You two have things in common. Dean's a hunter... I understand that Mom's family is a hunter family. I suppose that's why you decided to disown your own flesh and blood."

"Yes, well, hunters have narrow foci on such things." Teneke said. "But we are not here to discuss our relationship with your mother, for good or for bad."

"Well, yeah, because then you'd have to admit that you were a total asshole to her." Dean said.

"The same could be said for your father." Teneke said cooly.

"Dad was an asshole to just about everyone." Dean said with a grin.

"Your relationship with my mother... colors your relationship with me." Jack said honestly. "I can probably get past it. Not that I accept it or condone it, considering you were the one the demon was wearing when mother was conceived... a demon that I learned to call grandfather by the way. "

"Hopefully that is a habit of which you have broken yourself." Teneke said. And Dean had to agree, considering this was a demon who was related to the one that was trying to kill Dean, had killed John and Mary and was after his brother in a bad way.

"Perhaps we should order?" Mei suggested as she waved the waiter over.

"It is... I suppose the point was, I had a grandfather when I was a child. This isn't a vacancy I am trying to fill in my life. Not trying to be a jerk, but... after everything that has gone on... I'm not sure about any of this." He picked up his menu to look at it briefly.

"Yeah, demons pretty much filled the void for him. Grandfather, father. That sort of thing." Dean said as he glanced at the menu and ordered some red meat. Because he liked red meat. "Shit, in some ways, Ben's a better dad than most dads I know. Including mine. And I had him my whole life." Kinda had him, as much as anyone had John Winchester after Mary died.

"Ben is a great dad." Jack said with a genuine smile. "Kept me out of trouble, taught me to work hard whether I had to or not, taught me how to care about people and the impact I had on them. A lot of dads... don't know how to do that." Jack ordered prime rib and a scotch and soda. He was going to need it if he was going to sit here with the people that had made his mother cry. When she still had a soul that could still ache.

Teneke looked uncomfortable with the turn of conversation. "I have no great love for demons. I was violated by one so many years ago, in a way that I cannot forgive." He said. "Therefore, it is best if we do not discuss the demonic side of life over dinner."

"Yeah... and I was almost killed by narrow minded hunters at three. " Jack said. "Would have died a slow agonizing death if it hadn't been for that demon who violated you, Ben and my mother. Doesn't leave us alot to talk about if we make old pain off limits. So what is it you wanted to talk about anyway?"

"Ooh, I've got an idea." Dean said as Mei excused herself to go to the restroom. "We could talk about Hendrickson. Apparently you people sicced him on me. I would sure love an explanation for that one, seeing as I don't even know you people."

"Hendrickson is no longer our concern. You may deal with him as you see fit... if you can."

"Ooh, that sounds like a dare, dude. Didn't that sound like a dare, Jack?" Dean said. "couple of questions. Is he human? And why did you sic him on me and Kaylie. Neither of us did anything to you guys after all."

"The young lady isn't your concern. " He said taking a sip of the tea he had ordered. "As for you, your family is dangerous. You are dangerous. If you had not been so obvious it would not have happened. You have only yourself to blame."

"Wow. So you think I'm dangerous? Cool." Dean said. "But you didn't answer my question. Is the son of a bitch human? Because I'm not like you, and if he's human, he's off limits. I'll find another way." Much like Sam did with Gordon. And...accidents could be arranged. "I don't really get off on terrorizing humans, especially young girls and their boyfriends."

"He is not human." Teneke said, assuming that Hendrickson could take care of himself. "And the young woman was not terrorized. She slept peacefully through out her stay. "

"That's not the point." Jack said. "The point is kidnapping is wrong." He said as though speaking to a child. "And your lap dog had me scared out of my mind thinking some freak psycho had her and was leading me on a wild goose chase all around town."

"She has been returned to you safe and sound." Teneke said, echoing Jack's tone. "And we are having a peaceful dinner, are we not?" The waiter brought their salads over as Mei returned to the table.

"Dude, you're hopeless." Dean said, shaking his head.

"With that sort of attitude... it might be our last. Kaylie is going to be my wife. She isn't a pawn. Your lack of remorse at the situation isn't winning me over."

"Has the young lady said yes?" Mei asked. "There wasn't an engagement ring on her finger." She said to her brother, who nodded.

"Jack, we are family. If this man here is considered family by genetics, why can't we be considered the same?" Teneke asked gently.

"You have this attitude... and it comes off like being my family gives you the right to do what ever you want... and it doesn't. You're family. I'm not going to deny that. We share genetics, and a last name. You raised my mother. But it's your actions that I am still struggling with."

Teneke sighed. "Perhaps one day we will move past this." He said. "In the meantime, why don't you tell me about your self? I'm interested in anything you have to say."

"Why? You want someone else to use against me? Why is remorse so hard for you people? " He sighed in frustration , leaning back in his seat to take a few bites of his food. "I have an associate's degree in business management... but I am now working on a paramedic's license. " It was neutral enough.

Teneke nodded. "That does not surprise me. Your mother had healing powers inherited not from the demon, but from my side of the family." He said. "It does not surprise me that you in your own way find enjoyment in healing people."

These people were driving him insane. How could he trust them when they didn't feel the slightest bit of remorse in terrorizing him? Now they wanted to chit chat as though they were simply estranged all these years. He shook his head and glanced over at Dean.

"Yeah... something like that. What is it you do in Hong Kong?"

"I run a chain of natural and organic foods, with a homeopathic branch." Teneke said. "It's quite popular, actually. I have branches in Taiwan, Japan, the Phillippines. Perhaps one day the United States."

Dean shook his head. He was a grocer? He didn't see THAT one coming!

"Must be lucrative if you can drop everything to come to the States to ... terrorize your grandson into submission." He felt strange. Not entirely unlike his one and only experience with drugs. But he had been watching his drink the entire time... there was no way that could be the case.

Dean made a face. He didn't feel right. In fact, he swore his flu was coming back. Well, at least this time he could go to an actual doctor early on. Maybe. If he felt like it. But he shook his head and took another drink of his beer.

"It's profitable." Teneke said easily. "People are tired of the pollutants, and hormones, and chemicals in their food. There is always a need for it. But I'm glad we could finally meet."

"I would be... except for the coercion." Jack said. "So let's cut through the crap, and get to it then. What is it you want? You didn't put all of this together just to meet the bastard child of a daughter you couldn't care less about. "

"I had a son, your uncle. He died a few months ago. Left no children. That makes you my only grandchild. And the last remaining Hsiao of my line." Teneke said sadly. "Our spirits cannot rest, when we die, without a male to light our ancestral fires and perform certain rituals of honor. Everything I have built will be cast to the four winds. You are my family, Jack. And we are yours. What has been awakened in you will need a guide, a steadying hand to grow and prosper."

"What was awakened in me.. is going to be shut down as soon as I figure out a way. You want me to light the ancestral fires... I might consider learning those. But more because I don't want to be the reason restless spirits are created. I can't trust you. You terrorized me. You say Kaylie was sleeping... but I wasn't. You did that to me intentionally. And you feel no remorse. Because I'm just replacement parts.. just something to light the fires so you can rest peacefully in the afterlife."

"We underestimated how much the young lady means to you. For that we apologize." Teneke said. "And please extend our apologies to her as well. But here is our number in Hong Kong." He said, sliding a card across the table. "Along with our address should you ever wish to visit."

Jack looked at the card and honestly thought to tear it up in front of them, which wasnt like him at all. Instead he picked it up and tucked it into his wallet to deal with later. "Maybe another time you can tell me about my mother." He said as the main course arrived.

"As a child your mother was exceedingly bright and curious." Teneke said, noticing how the mention of Maggie made Dean uncomfortable. And he enjoy that. So he kept going. Relating a few childhood anecdotes. Dean concentrated on his food, and tried to ignore Teneke. Because this was Jack's show. He wanted to hear about Maggie. Even if the very mention of that woman made his skin burn.

"So there was no sign of her going evil when she was little or a teenager... or even later in life." Jack said. "Wow... guess if it had been your son that had come up being a nephilim you would have given him a chance huh?"

"Hindsight does no one any good." Teneke said. "All we can do is look to the future and try to build on it. We could sit here tossing back what might have beens, but it changes what happened not at all."

"Did you read that in a fortune cookie or something?" Dean said, shaking his head.

"You know... You're a son of a bitch." Jack said. "Because you and John both turned your back on my mother I almost died, and she gave up her soul so to keep me alive. If you hadn't done it... I would still have a mother, Dean wouldn't have been tortured... But you don't care. It's not that it doesn't do any good to look back... it's that you don't give a damn about the repercussions of your actions. You dont care about anything or anyone but yourselves. " He said as he stood to his feet. "And I wont have MY family anywhere near that. I've lost my appetite, how about you?" He asked his brother.

"Oh yeah. From the moment they walked in." Dean said as he got up also. "See ya." He said and they walked out quickly. "Okay, that didn't go too badly. No punches were thrown, right?"

"Not for lack of wanting to. I have never wanted to wipe the floor with a man as much as I wanted to him. Butter wouldn't melt in his damned mouth. " Jack growled as he headed for the car.

"Dude, you okay? I mean, I'm the hot tempered one." Dean said with a small laugh. "You're the one always telling me to cool down. Now, well, you need to cool down a bit. It's over, you upheld your end of the deal and we found out Hendrickson isn't human."

"Yeah..." Jack grumbled. "I don't know. Something tonight just set me off. Guess I have the Winchester temper after all." He tried to smile but he didnt feel it. He was angry. And he was scared. Neither of which was anything he was used to. He had been pissed off before but this was different. This was something that settled in his gut and refused to let go.

"Possibly." Dean said with a shrug as he pulled out of the parking lot. His own gut was acting up, that dinner just didn't settle well. "How about we hit the burger joint and get some real food?" He suggested. "You did promise me dinner, even if there is no sex."

"Sounds good." Jack said. "Got a nasty taste to get out of my mouth anyway. A couple beers sounds like just the way to do it." He shrugged. "Wanna head over to Ben's club?"

Dean laughed. "You want to go to Ben's club? Mr I grew up with most of these strippers babysitting me and it's just too weird to see them take their clothes off? All right. Finally proving you're a Winchester after all." He said with a grin. Going to a strip club wasn't infidelity after all.

"The food's good, and you could use the entertainment after being locked up for a month. Besides, I think Amber has been aching to give you a lap dance anyway. With or with out the handcuffs." He teased.

"Ooh...so the evening might end in sex. Music to my ears." Dean said as he headed toward Ben's club.

"Just cause I'm not putting out doesn't mean someone else won't." He said with a laugh. "Kaylie is probably just as glad to be rid of me for a while."

Dean laughed. "Dude, you know that Ben's on Kaylie Watch for you. So she's probably in the back doing their hair, or teaching them how to fold napkins into swans or something."

"Yeah... that's true, she will be there. But that's okay. I think once the wicked bastard of the east is back in Hong Kong, I won't be so twitchy."

"I hope so, cause you're annoying when you're twitchy." Dean said with a laugh as he pulled into Ben's club. Even on a Sunday night he was doing good business. One thing Dean would always say about Ben that was good, the man knew how to run a strip club.

"Yeah... well... Twitchy is better than what I wanted to do back there. I have never been that angry before. I don't know, it just hit me there. " He said as he got out of the car. "And I will buy a couple of rounds. Since you are poor as a church mouse till your settlement comes in."

"Ah, not quite." He said with a laugh as he produced Teneke's credit card. "I figure he owes us a couple of lap dances, don't you?" So he swiped it. Some habits just died hard, and Ben had the foresight to get an ATM machine at the entrance. That way the men never ran out of money and he could make more. "Give me a few to figure out the PIN."

"Man, you are incorrigible. " Jack said laughing. "But what the hell, knock yourself out. Just don't get caught. It's just my inheritance you are spending anyway."

"Hey, everyone's got a talent in this world, right? This is just one of the few I can show in public, or show to my brother for that matter." Dean said with a laugh as he figured out Teneke's PIN number and withdrew a couple hundred dollars. He passed a few twenties to Jack. "So, about that first round of beer?" He said as they walked into the main room of the strip club. Where the girls were circulating, or on stage, and the bartender was weighing down the waitresses' trays with drinks and food for the customers.

Jack laughed and headed for his preferred table. Yeah, he knew that most of these girls he had grown up with, some as his baby sitter, some he had gone to school with, and he wasn't sure which was stranger to watch dance, but what the hell. He wanted good food, and familiar surroundings. And well... it couldn't hurt to watch a good striptease. Wasn't like Kaylie would care.

Amber came over with a grin as Dean took out the wad of money. Easiest way to get a stripper's attention was to flash the cash. "Now, see, that's what I'm talking about. Don't get this sort of service in prison!" Dean said to his brother with a smirk.

"Sure you do... but you know it just isn't the same when it's some bald bruiser with tattoos in questionable places."

"Okay, point taken." Dean said as he got his requested lap dance. Sure, he had every intention of bringing Amber home that night, and sure, she was doing nothing to dissuade that idea, but hey, the girl had to make a little money, right?

Jack excused himself, allowing Dean his lap dance, and went to get a pitcher. His mind was still on the meeting with his grandfather, and it was just making him angrier with each passing second.

Kaylie was sick of playing poker with Ben. He cheated too well, and she wasn't very good at it to begin with, so when his phone started ringing, she escaped to the bar to get something to drink and saw Jack. "Hey." She said with a smile, then turned concerned. "Didn't go well?"

"Depends on your definition of well. We didn't throw any punches. Dean says it went well because we didn't... I think it went badly because I really wanted to." He admitted. "So how has your night been going?"

Jack? Wanting to get physically violent with a vengeance? She had thought that Winchester gene had somehow passed him. But she smiled a bit. "Ben conned me into cooking. Then he proceeded to kick my ass at seven different kinds of poker. He's getting a kick out of this, you know."

"Keep playing with Ben, and he'll have you kicking Dean's ass in no time, and that would be pretty funny. I'd pay to see that " He said with a laugh, although it was a humorless laugh. "Turns out Hendrickson isn't human. So Dean is probably gonna go off on a vengeance. I don't know that I'm gonna risk my damned license for him a second time. He can go to the hospital like normal people now."

Kaylie cocked her head a bit as he talked. His tone was...well, it was strange. She chalked it up to the stress of meeting his mother's family under less than ideal circumstances and a hell of a lot of blackmail. "He hasn't picked up a nurse in a while. It'll be good for him." She said. Not that she wanted Jack to risk his license and all that, not at all, but that stance (the logical one) usually was hers or Ben's, not his.

"Right now I think he is going to be taking home a stripper. " He said as he placed their food orders with the bartender. "Probably just what he needs. To be on the other side of the handcuffs for a chance."

"Ew...so not an image of your brother that I want in my head." Kaylie said with a laugh as she got another soda. "Then again, you're probably right. Poor Amber, she should just call in for a few days in advance."

"Why? All she will have to do is come down stairs. If Ben doesn't hear her up there tonight and figure it out on his own. Look, I am wiped and in a pretty foul mood. I'm gonna go for a walk. You wanna let Dean know if he bothers to come up for air?"

"Sure." Kaylie said. Weird, the not hovering. She wasn't sure which bothered her more, the not hovering or the distance. "I'll let him know." She said, confused a bit, but headed back to the backroom.

Jack slipped out the back door, and started walking.

SNSNSN

Sam was finally allowed to eat real food and get up out of bed. Although he was happiest about the tubes and wires being removed. All that was left was the IV in the back of his hand, and even that wasn't hooked up to anything, except when they came into give him his antibiotics. 

He was twitching. Foot wiggling impatiently. He was bored, he hurt more from the hospital bed than he did the wounds now, and well... did he mention that he was bored? "It sucks being blessed with understanding." He muttered as he pushed away his tray.

Father Pavel heard that as he entered the room. "So I understand you will show your brother far more compassion and patience the next time he gets himself hospitalized?" He asked with a chuckle as he started to pack Sam's clothes. "They are switching you to oral antibiotics. That's good news!"

Sam smiled, even though it felt like he had been sucker punched. "I'm not Dean's keeper any more. Just gotta hope that Jack doesn't have any such understanding and will make him stay put." He told the priest. "Yeah... orals are good. Too bad it doesn't mean they will get this skewer out of my hand."

"Are you not still your brother's keeper?" Father Pavel said. "You did destroy evidence, interfered with many an official government investigation to keep your brother in your own way."

"I can't go near him again. His being in the hospital... nothing I could do anything about. The investigation thing... it was probably one of the few things I could actually do and even that got the demon's attention. It was all I could do to convince him that it wasn't a breech of our contract."

"The doctors were cautious, child. But they were deeply worried when it took so long for you to wake up. Finally you do and the first thing you yelled for was your brother." Father Pavel said with sympathetic eyes. "It's all right to hold the memory close."

"I dreamt he was here." Sam said quietly. "I didn't know if I should be relieved or hurt that he wasn't, you know...It wasn't this hard when I went away to college. after the first couple of years we just lost contact.. he got busy, I got busy... got involved with a girl... it didn't ache inside, ya know."

"He wasn't here because he didn't know." Father Pavel said gently. "But I understand. I do, and I do grieve for what you've lost in order to gain."

"I don't blame him...I'm the one that left... but after that vision... I had to go. I can't be the one that kills him. Hunters die young. It's the way things are but I don't want to be the cause of his death, and not just cause I'd nose dive into the unspeakable either."

"God always has a plan, even if it's not quite foreseeable to us. Even if we don't understand it at all." Father Pavel said. "And sacrifices are never made in vain, no matter what that demon told you."

"If I go too far into the darkness... will you take care if it?" Sam asked looking up at his mentor. He felt like it could be any day sometimes. Others, he felt so normal that he wondered how he could have let himself believe it would happen. And those were the nights that he cried.

"I promise you, Samuel. If I have to, I will take care of it." Father Pavel swore. "And before you even ask, I will not ask your brothers for help with it either."

"Thanks." Sam said, visibly relieved. "Dean doesn't need to ... know." He would rather his brother thought he had gone down fighting the demon or in a car accident or hell of a ruptured appendix, anything but put down like a monster.

Father Pavel had no doubt that if the time came, Dean Winchester would know anyway. And would most likely shove himself in to assist in anyway possible, if the man was anything like the brother that was before him now. But if Sam found a modicum of peace in denying that to himself, Father Pavel wasn't going to disillusion him. "You are welcome."

"Don't suppose you would consider letting me sneak out of here tonight, would you?" Sam asked. He didn't hold out much hope of that. He also didn't hold out hope of Dean having the sense to stay away if he ever had the faintest clue where to find him. Which was why he didn't talk to Ellen and made Bobby swear to keep it to himself. Of course that only was achieved after telling him the truth.

"Absolutely not." Father Pavel said. "Do not worry so much. I understand your predicament. And you are not officially registered at this hospital, as a favor to me. Should your brother start trying to trace you through hospitals, he will not find you at this one."

Sam nodded. "Okay." He said, although that was only half of the reason he wanted to get out of the hospital.

"Samuel, it is a hospital run by friars and nuns. Any more Catholic, you would have to in a monastery." Father Pavel said. Protected by the Church, but not drowning in its relics and symbology. "They said you may leave after dinner if it's any consolation."

Sam smiled brightly. "That is a huge consolation." He said. "So how far away is that lake?" Of course knowledge that he was going to get to leave, and feeling much better than when he had arrived, made him think he was 100 again.

"Forty five minute drive." Father Pavel said, watching Sam. Amazing how someone could get so excited over the revelation of leaving a hospital. "I've been provided a car, they've stocked the cabin already. So that leaves you with..." he looked at the clock, "two hours of, how do you say, cool off your heels?"

He laughed a little and found the remote control for the television, figuring there would be no cable out there at the cabin. "I think I can handle that. So do you like fishing?" He asked. "I do. I plan on fishing also while we are out there." Father Pavel said. "If you know how, and you can get out of bed, you will come with me." He offered. "I don't drink though."

"I think the last time I went fishing was with a pastor." He said remembering pastor Jim and their occasional summer visits with him while their father was hunting. "Me... I drink, but I promise not to get drunk. I'm a miserable drunk."

"Very few people are happy drunks." Father Pavel said with a nod as dinner came into the room. Decent fare, for a hospital. It would last Sam until they got to the cabin at least.

Sam made a point of eating well, because he knew if he didn't, they would question their decision to let him leave. And he sat up right on his bed fidgeting like a little boy until the nurse came in to remove his IV. "Am I glad to see you." He said, smiling, almost looking like the old Sam again.

"That's not what you said yesterday." The nurse said with a grin as she removed the IV with practiced ease and taped a bandaid over the site. "In fact, I remember having to threaten you with sedation and restraints to get a new IV in you in the first place." She reminded him, making the priest in the room laugh as he gathered Sam's things.

Sam laughed. "Yeah well... after the first three, the fourth just seemed over kill." His veins had been crap. And the 3rd had managed to make his arm swell up like a balloon. He apparently moved it too much in his sleep.

"It was all for a very good cause." She said as an orderly brought in a wheel chair. "So I could stand here and tell you, for the love of God Almighty, just get the heck out of my hospital!"

Sam laughed "I make it a point never to stay where I'm not wanted." He said as he got up and into the wheel chair. He had rarely been so glad to leave a place.

The orderly wheeled him down to the car Father Pavel had waiting, and they started on the drive toward the lake, listening to Mozart. Father Pavel knew, without asking, that the hymns he usually listened to were becoming painful for Sam. And the priest abhorred what the kids were passing off as music. Classical music, it seemed, was a good compromise, as the car crested a hill to drop upon a view of the expansive lake. "The cottage is over there in the corner." Father Pavel pointed as he drove.

Sam looked out over the lake. It looked tranquil. Quiet. Maybe it would be just what he needed. He hoped. If it wasn't... he would go mad with it.

SNSNSN

Jack parked his car. He had called the club looking for Kaylie after having a little while to cool off and maybe get back to normal. That is until she was no where to be found. He couldn't believe she had gone off on her own with Hendrickson still out there. How could she do that?

What's more, she went off to a night club with the girls. That had taken him nearly an hour to sort out after his initial panic attack. And that was where he had headed with in seconds of getting her location out of one of their mutual friends, who had passed on the girls' night out.

He paid the cover to get in, yet another reason to be upset. He not only had to hunt her down, he had to pay for the privilege of doing so.

Kaylie was with a small group of female friends. It had been a while since they'd had a completely girls' only night out. Not to mention she was still feeling weird from the vibes she got off Jack earlier. So, she lied to Ben. Said she was going out with Jack. And Jack was off on his walk or whatever, Dean was highly preoccupied and not on "Kaylie Duty" anyway, so she had Andrea pick her up outside the club. And it was fun. Laughing, nothing serious, no one watching her all the time to see if she'd disappear. No stretched, worried faces. No one asking if she was absolutely positive she didn't remember anything. Just pure fun with no strings attached.

Men liked Kaylie. She was pretty, and she was fun, and she was nice enough not to make them feel like something she had scraped off her shoe when she told them thanks but no thanks. It was no surprise to any of her friends that there were men who came over to ask her to dance or if they could buy her a drink.

What surprised them was the sudden expression of pain on the latest would be Romeo's face, as his arm was twisted behind his back. "Move on." Jack barked into his ear and shoved him away from Kaylie.

There was one other time Kaylie remembered Jack getting violent with another man over her. Tenth grade, outside Mrs Foster's English class. A senior girl had taken a dislike to Kaylie, for no reason anyone could figure out, and dragged her quarterback boyfriend in on it. She remembered when the quarterback had slammed her against the lockers, and the next thing she saw was Jack knocking the quarterback out. That was understandable, that was defense. This...this wasn't as she got out of her chair as the young man stumbled away.

"Jack!" She said. "What the hell are you doing?" Was he drunk? Did his brother get him drunk before ditching him to go off with a stripper? Ooh, she'd show the oldest Winchester the meaning of violence if that was what happened... But Jack didn't look drunk.

"He doesn't need to be sniffing around you like that." Jack said. "What are you doing in a place like this on your own anyway? " Was she here looking for a guy like that? Some upwardly mobile pretty boy with no weirdness in his life?

"Shelly picked it out." She said with a shrug. Sniffing around her? Okay, that one pissed her off. So much so, she didn't even bother to tell him she'd bought her own drinks, and danced with just the girls. This was a 'whatever' moment. "And I'm not on my own, I've got five girls around me. Well, four, Nancy is getting the drinks this time, and you've just completely freaked them out. What is with you?" Freaked her out too.

"I'm trying to protect you." He said. "And apparently our relationship too. I go for a walk and all the sudden you just up and take off to a bar. And your friends can deal with being freaked out. It's not like I hurt the son of a bitch."

She stared at him shock. Confusion, followed by hurt, followed by anger flashed across her face. "What did you say?" She asked in a low voice, eyes narrowing. "Protect our relationship? So, you can go to a strip club with your brother, but I can't go to a dance club with my friends? It's bad that I don't have sisters to do girl stuff with? That's being held against me? And the minute I'm out of your sight, I'm apparently whoring around for some other guy? And here I thought relationships were built on trust." She said, as her girlfriends just stared at the scene. "I'm not doing this." She said as she grabbed her purse. "I'll call you girls tomorrow. I'm getting a cab home."

"I'll drive you, we're not done." Jack said. "And for the record, I was there at that strip club long enough to get Dean a table and talk to you, so don't even throw that in my face. Especially since it's a family business."

"No, I said we're done talking." Kaylie said as she stormed out of the main club to the foyer to call a cab. "I'm taking a cab and that's the end of it. I don't know, go watch your brother or something." She said as she fished for quarters in her purse and dropped them in the slot.

Jack pressed the latch down, effectively hanging up the phone. "Kaylie, go get in the damned car." Jack said in a tone that she had never heard him use before.

She stared up at him wide eyed at that tone. Green eyes completely unlike his brother's. Dean's were green, or green gold, or sometimes down right hazel depending on his mood or what he was wearing. Kaylie's were a clear green, and they were clearly disturbed by the tone. But, she was a Texas girl. Spent summers on her granddaddy's ranch, and even knew how to rope a steer. So she stood her ground. "No." She said firmly. "Back off Jack, or I'm walking." She'd admit it privately to herself, maybe later, but she had a shiver of fear traveling down her spine from the look in his own dark, dark eyes.

Jack gave a frustrated, angry, growling sigh, then grabbed her arm. "The hell you are." He said as he started to walk toward the front door pulling her after him. He had about all he was going to take of this bull shit. What the hell did she think she was doing?

"Jack!" Kaylie said, trying to twist her arm out of his grasp, but the more she tried to twist, the tighter he held on. "Ow! Jack! Stop! You're hurting me!" She said as she felt his fingers bite into the tender flesh of her upper arm as she was dragged forward, as much as she tried to backpedal. "Jack! Stop!"

"Hey, let the lady go." One of the bouncers had caught wind of the situation and figured Kaylie could use a little help.

"Stay out of it. Believe me, you don't want to make this your problem. Not today." Jack told him in a dangerous tone, dark eyes locking on the other man's, sizing up the prey, the competition.

"It's not a problem I can't handle, let the lady go."

"Kaylie... get in the damned car. I'll be there in a minute." He said letting her go, only to take a swing at the bouncer.

Kaylie absolutely did not go to the car. Once Jack released her, she ran into the ladies' room and shoved everyone else out, locking the door behind her. She slid down to the floor, back against the door, and dumped the contents of her purse out and grabbed her cell phone. She called the one person that could help. Something was wrong with Jack, she didn't know what. Maybe he was possessed or something, she'd heard that word bandied about enough. At the very least, he might need someone to restrain him. Ben wouldn't do it. So she called the one person that would. "Dean?" She said into the phone and started crying.

"Kaylie, I'm kinda in the middle of..." Dean started saying, then heard his brother's girlfriend start to sob and moved away from Amber. "Kaylie, what's wrong? Is it Jack?"

"Yeah.." She said between sobs. "Dean, I'm scared, I don't know what to do. I can't go back out there. There's something...I don't know...it's not Jack."

Kaylie was making no sense as Dean ran a hand through his hair. "Is it or is it not Jack?" He asked impatiently.

"It's Jack. I think. He's...there's something wrong with him." She said as the short story poured out in between terrified tears quickly.

"Where are you?" Dean asked calmly and Kaylie told him. "I'll be right there."

Jack had left the bouncer (gasping for breath on the floor) and hurried after his girlfriend. "Kaylie." He yelled. "Open this goddamned door, right now. I'm not playing this fucking game with you tonight."

"No! Go away!" She screamed through the door. "Leave me alone, Jack!" She screamed as she rubbed her upper arm, where angry red welts the shape of his fingers were beginning to form. She should get up and at least put a cold towel on them, she knew that. But she had the irrational fear that if she moved from the door, he could get in. As if her meager weight was all that was stopping him.

"Kaylie... come on... don't do this. Damn it, why are you making me so angry. I just wanted to talk this out in the fucking car but no, you had to be stubborn about it." He said slamming into the door, jarring it. It wouldn't take much more for him to get through. A hand came out of nowhere and shoved Jack away from the door.

"Dude, really. Breaking into a woman's bathroom?" Dean said. He'd never expected this. He'd stepped right over the bouncer who was still gasping for air, and the normally noisy club scene had quieted. Quieted so much that he could hear Kaylie's stifled sob on the other side of the door, relief at hearing Dean's voice interrupting Jack's attempts (nearly successful) to break the door down. "Have a little dignity there, baby brother."

Jack pushed Dean away. "Stay out of this, man. Go back to the club, get laid, what ever it is you wanna do but stay the fuck out of this." He wasn't going to put up with this from Dean. This had nothing to do with his brother. This was between him and Kaylie.

"Well, the whole me getting laid thing, it's on hold." Dean said. "Come on, let's take a walk." He said. "Really. Now. Before the police roll up, because that bouncer you laid out flat, well, he got up. Let's go."

"I am not leaving without Kaylie." Jack said firmly and started to move toward the door again only to be stopped by Dean. "Back off, man, I mean it."

"Can't do that." Dean said. "Seriously, let's go. We'll calm you down, and maybe Kaylie will talk to you later. That's up to her." Because Kaylie certainly sounded too petrified to talk to him. "If you think you're going to break down this door, you'll have to go through me. And I gotta tell ya, if you go through me, then both me AND the door land on Kaylie because I guarantee you she is right on the other side of it."

Even in his current mental state, he wouldn't overtly harm the woman. He still loved her, in fact he would be pissed to know that he had actually brought bruises on her arm. But in that moment there wasn't a lot of self control. " Fine." He growled, his anger shifting to Dean for interfering. "Lead the way."

"You first." Dean said, wanting to be sure that his brother didn't turn around behind his back and go right after the bathroom door. But Jack did walk out and Dean followed, grabbing his arm and turning the younger man around once they were out. "What the hell are you doing? What are you thinking? Going after Kaylie like that and scaring the living shit out of her?!"

"We were fine until that fucking bouncer started messing in things. It's just a spat. She'll get over it. So back the fuck off." There was an aggression to Jack, as if he were waiting to pounce, waiting for the next excuse to lunge, to fight.

Dean could clearly see what Kaylie was talking about. This was Jack, and yet it wasn't Jack. "Fine, you want to beat me into the ground?" He said as he casually took off his jacket and threw it on a shrub outside some business. "Give it your best shot." He said, relaxing into a far too casual posture. One that screamed 'take your best shot.'

Jack didn't need to be told twice, and moved quickly and gracefully into position. Jack fought up close, years of Kung fu training that he had never used anywhere but the dojo or tournament floor, years of sparring in tiger form required up close and personal. He eased into the form so much easier now than before. His body actually moving more like a big cat and struck the first blow.

That was all the excuse Dean needed as he righted himself and wiped the blood from his face. Compared to Sam, he was a brawler of the old school kind. But even he needed provocation. Especially to lash out at Jack. He didn't have a style, he didn't have a form. It was dirty, expansive, inclusive and rough. Legs, arms, fists, feet, he used them all. He knew how to use holds against someone. He knew how to block, and he knew how to duck (even if Sam would disagree with that assessment, the ducking part.) But he didn't really expect Jack to attack him. So the first blow came as a surprise.

Jack moved like a jungle cat, fluid and graceful. And many people mistook Dean for a clumsy, careless person. He wasn't. He just chose to not dissuade them of that notion as he returned the blow. Jack might be a tiger in a man's clothing, but Dean? Dean was a bear. A very angry bear up on his hind legs.

The two brothers fought, and it wasn't the typical brawl you might expect to find out side a bar on a weekend. This was something different. This was something fight choreographers would love to recreate. It was emotion and power and grace, a strange dance twisted by the bruises that darkened on each man's skin, the blood that dripped down their faces.

In the end it was the bear that won. Jack was a tournament fighter in two styles, and he was good. But Dean was a seasoned warrior. Not some street tough, but a warrior who fought things to make Jack's tiger into a cub by comparison. It had cost him, but he had won, and Jack lay on the ground in the alley, unconscious. Dean slumped down and wiped the blood off his face as he called Ben. Gave the low down quick, along with the address. Ben came in short order and flared Jack back to the house. Not very happy with Dean, and truly, about to finish the fight for Jack.

But once Ben was there, Dean went back to the club and checked on Kaylie. Ben shook his head, but he restrained Jack to the bed. And sat, waiting for the young man he regarded as his son to wake up and explain this shit. Because he'd certainly never taught Jack to leave bruises on the arm of the woman he loved.

He'd calmed down from his stance on Dean once a terrified and weepy Kaylie came in with Dean, and he saw the bruises, becoming more livid and dark with each passing moment. But they were over at Dean's place. It was all about watching Kaylie after all. Besides, Ben knew Kaylie's mom didn't like Jack. This would be all the excuse the woman would need. And until Ben had a story that met his high standards of excuse, apology and promise to rectify, Kaylie's mom got squat.

Jack came around and tried to move. He turned his head toward the restraints at his hand "You have got to be fucking kidding me." Jack said and rolled his dark eyes "Let me up, Ben, this is ridiculous." He couldnt believe they had gotten Ben in on it too. Just figured didnt it. That they would all turn on him at once. A guy couldnt win for losing around here.

Ben reached over and untied the restraints. "I just didn't want you coming up swinging, thinking I was Dean or something." Ben said with a chuckle. "After seeing his face, and yours, didn't want a continuation of that. So want to tell me why I had to pick you up off the sidewalk unconscious?"

"Dean pissed me off and we had at it. It's nothing to worry about." Jack said, feeling a little guarded. "He's got more hands on experience than I do for now." He sat up and rubbed his face. "Where's Kaylie? Or did she take off?"

"Dean pisses most people off." Ben said with a laugh. "Yeah, uh, Kaylie. She's here. I slipped her a sedative, she was hysterical Jack. She's passed out on Dean's couch." He said as he went to the window. All the cars were there, while Jack was restrained and unconscious, Ben went and got Jack's car. And Amber's car was there. "So hopefully she's sleeping while Dean entertains himself. Sex addict." He said, shaking his head.

"She should have just come home and left it be. She gets fucking hysterical over nothing." Jack said as he got out of bed and went to get clean clothes out of his dresser. He was a mess from the fight and wanted to clean up before going and confronting his girlfriend over this bull shit. "Hell if she hadn't gotten hysterical I wouldn't have gotten in the damned fight with Dean in the first place." He said, not realizing how much he was swearing, or the tone he was using. To Jack this was normal. But it wasn't.

"Usually it's you who tries to lecture me on my grasp of swear words." Ben said neutrally, deciding not to point out that Kaylie didn't technically live here. Sure she was here more than she was at her parents' place, but she technically lived there. "What's going on in your head, Jack?"

Jack gave Ben a look. "I am fucking tired of picking up the pieces. Dean gets in trouble, I pick up the pieces or talk you into it. Kaylie gets kidnapped, Hsiao wants his ancestral fires lit... you know that's not the sort of fire that comes to mind when I think about that sorry ass son of a bitch. So then I go for a walk to clear my head and she is fucking out at a dance club with the girls. With Hendrickson still out there looking to make waves. And SHE gets hysterical cause I get pissed about it. You know I thought she had more common sense than that. " "Women get hysterical." Ben said with a careful shrug as he watched the young man he had raised. There was definitely something off about him. "Just warning you though, she might not want to talk to you. So if you're going to try, you're going to have to at least appear to have calmed down." He'd seen the bruises, and was holding on firmly to the idea that it was some sort of misunderstanding. He certainly didn't raise Jack to put his hands on a woman like that. "As for Dean...well, maybe you two needed to have a big blow out finally."

He shrugged. "Dean will understand." He laughed a little. "He might have gotten in the final blow, but he doesn't look like he waltzed through the fight. Might curb that condescending attitude a bit where I'm concerned." He said as he changed. Then he sighed "Yeah I should go get some flowers or something to smooth things over. Seriously don't want to deal with round two of the hysterics. She just should have fucking listened to me." Ben sat back. "That how you feel? That this is all Kaylie's fault?" He said and shook his head. "Take it from someone who was married a very long time. Go in with that attitude, she'll see right through whatever smile you plaster on your face. But flowers are a good start."  
Dean would be in the next room, Ben would be in screaming distance. And maybe a look at the bruises would snap Jack out of this.

"I didnt mean to hurt her." Jack said, with all the remorse one would expect of a Hsiao. "And no she didnt stand there and say 'come on and hurt me why dont you' but it wouldnt have happened if she had just done as I asked and got in the car. " He opened the bathroom door and went in to wash his face "Thats gonna be hell to explain in class tomorrow" he said with a chuckle looking at the bruises on his face.

"Tell them the truth. You got in a fight with your older brother who just got out of prison." Ben said with a chuckle. He was watching Jack, something was up. But he didn't confront until he had more information. That was his way. Dean might jump the gun, and enjoy it too, but Ben? He liked to know which foot he was standing on first. "If you're smart, you'll be quiet and won't disturb Dean and his friend. That boy, he needs a twelve step program I swear."

"He just had a near death experience. Give the guy a break. Besides, it's not like Amber isn't just as bad. With any luck, she will show him what handcuffs are really for and he won't be out of bed for a few days." He said.

"I think I am gonna go for a walk, maybe clear my head. Figure out how to spin this to Kaylie. "

"You do that." Ben said, thinking a walk would do Jack some good. Then he handed Jack money. "While you're out, be a humanitarian for your resident demon and pick me up a pack of smokes." He wanted to catch the ball game on TV.

"Sure, whatever." Jack said, not wanting to get into it with Ben. He grabbed his jacket and headed down the stairs, pausing at the entry way door to toss the money Ben had given him on the table and headed on out. Not going for a walk, but taking the car instead.

Jack had driven for about half an hour when his cell phone rang. It was Teneke. "I was listening to the police scanner. They're handy to have in America." He said in a smooth voice. "Are you all right? I heard something about a fight outside a club matching your description, and that of your brother's."

"Yeah, we're fine. Just had a brotherly brawl. Everyone is freaked out about it. Kaylie gets all hysterical cause I don't want her hanging out in a bar with your fucking pit bull still out there doing God knows what, and calls Dean who gets in my face. So we went about rearranging each other's features."

"He's not my pit bull. He's a mercenary." Teneke said. "But I am glad that you're all right. About your girlfriend, Mei has the tendency to not think ahead. Another reason why the line must be carried on by a man, I'm afraid. I sincerely apologize for her over zealousness and hope she'll be all right."

"Yeah, she will be fine. I'm just..." He pulled the car over to the side of the road and turned it off. "I'm angry... if that word would even begin to cover it. I don't think there is a word that begins to describe what I am feeling right now."

"It's the gifts you inherited from your mother." Teneke said. "They're trying to come out, and you're repressing them, shoving them down. They run on emotion, that's when they're the strongest. Do you want some help with them?" Teneke offered.

"How do I know I can trust you?" He asked not into pulling punches right then. But he had hurt Kaylie, whether he intended to or not, whether it could have been avoided by her not freaking out or not, he had hurt her. He never wanted to do that.

"Because you have to." Teneke said. "Unless you learn to control it, you will hurt someone you care deeply about. Your brother may hold his own in a fight with you, I have no doubt Ben could as well. But could your Kaylie?"

"No." He said softly, knowing Teneke was right. He had hurt her just walking her to the car. "I want to turn it off... I don't want these powers. I don't want any of it. "

"I can help you, Jack. If you will let me." Teneke said. "We are leaving for Hong Kong. The plane is being loaded. I can wait for you if you want. Let me help you."

"I gotta talk to Ben." He said. This was big. Even in his current state of mind this was big. Seriously big. He couldnt just up and leave. His life was here. His classes, his fiance, his family. How much was he expected to give up?

"You will do what you must." Teneke said. "I just hope your temper doesn't get the best of you in the meanwhile."

"Just... just give me a little time... I'll be there... just... give me time." He said, feeling very much torn in those moments. He wanted to stay, Corpus Christi was his home, his life was here... but he would destroy that. "Is ... is it going to get worse?"

"If you can't control it, it will." Teneke said sadly. "So please don't wait too long."

"Right... I won't be long. Just... wait." He said and hung up, calling home to speak to Ben. He couldn't pull a Sam. Then he would have to punch his own lights out and that wasn't even remotely cool.

Ben answered. "So I had to go get my own smokes, missed a big chunk of the game. It's all right, though. I taped it. Where are you?"

"On my way out of town... just for a few days. I'm going nuts. Guess everything just... got to me. I'll make it up to Kaylie when I get back but I can't even talk to her like this."

"Jack, where are you going?" Ben asked. Something wasn't ringing right in all this. "You got enough cash? Sure your car is going to make it?" A road trip was his brother's answer to everything. Not Jack's.

"Ben, don't worry, okay? I'll be fine. Just a few days. Won't even know I'm gone before I'll be back. I'll call if there's a problem. I promise." Hong Kong would seriously be out of the cell phone's service area. He didn't get that good of a roaming plan.

Warning bells were going off in Ben's head. He knew what kind of man he had raised. "Jack, maybe you should just come home and we'll deal with this here." He said carefully. Jack, avoiding a problem? Running off? Only if he had been possessed by Sam, and he'd heard that Sam was still corporeal.

"I'm dealing with it. I promise. Tell Kaylie I love her, and... let Dean know I'm not ditching him. Just.. .taking some time to ditch the attitude. Love you." He said and hung up. He started the car again and drove toward the airport. Something told him the answers were tied up with his grandfather. He just didn't know how yet.

Jack was recognized at the airport and ushered by a few bodyguards to the plane Teneke had chartered. "I'm glad you came." Teneke said as Jack boarded the plane. He had had some doubts, he wasn't sure that Jack would come. "Please, have a seat. It's a long flight."

He shouldn't be here. He knew that. It was disloyal to his mother to even breathe the same air as this bastard. Not the woman that Dean knew ... but the woman that had sacrificed everything for her son's life. But he had to sort out how to make it stop. "You can make this stop..." He said. "You can make the fucking magic and the anger go away? Cause if you are lying to me... well... there won't be any fires lit for anyone when you go... this is your only chance."

"I can teach you to control it. It's inside you, you can't get away from it. It was bound to come out at some point. Just now, you have family to help you understand it and harness it." Teneke saiid. "I can teach you center, I can teach you focus. The westerners cannot."

"You might be surprised what I can learn over here. How long is this gonna take anyway? I can't just abandon everything here. Sorry...don't intend to be a grocer and settle down in Hong Kong."

"There's nothing wrong with being a grocer." Teneke said with a quiet chuckle. "It takes as long as it takes, I can't give you a timetable on that, any more than anyone can predict how quickly another person would learn timetables. Just relax. We're taking off, and you certainly wouldn't want us to crash, would you?" He said and offered Jack some tea.

He took the tea. "I doubt my attitude is going to make us crash. So... do you have any of my mother.s things or did you burn them when you kicked her to the curb?"

"They're in storage." Teneke said evenly. Luckily the tea had a sedative in it, barely noticable, but it should help Jack relax. If not all out fall asleep. So he could plan, Teneke that is.

"I want them." He stated as he continued sipping the tea. It was helping take the edge off. "Thank you for hanging on to them for me." He wasn't going to take no for an answer where that was concerned. They didn't love her, he did.

"You're welcome." Teneke said, and filled the void with small talk until Jack fell asleep.

SNSNSN

Ben came into Dean's apartment. Not bothering to knock, if called on it, he'd say that since he technically owned it all, and Dean technically didn't pay rent, he could. Kaylie was sleeping on the couch and Ben winced. He must have slipped her a higher dose than he thought. Well, she was breathing and looked peaceful so he moved onto other matters and he went into Dean's room, an unsurprising sight greeting his eyes.

"Dude!" Dean said as he quickly yanked a blanket up over them. "What the hell are you doing?"

"Can it." Ben said. "Amber works for me, I own a strip club, you really think I've never seen her naked before?" Ben said impatiently. "Jack's gone."

"What do you mean gone? That's why I had you tie his ass down!"

"Fine, whatever." Ben said, moving on. "Look, his car is at the airport, and he's out of range on his cell phone. Given how far a range I pay for, he's definitely not in the US."

"Where do you think he went?" Dean said, reaching for his pants. "If I had to guess? Hong Kong." "Dude, I don't fly." Dean said.

"Don't worry about it. Amber, stay with Kaylie please."


	11. Chapter 11

-1Sam unpacked his things, since they were going to be there for a while. "So what kind of fish do you have out there in that lake anyway?" He asked. He didn't know what to do with down time. It was an alien concept to a Winchester. Time not spent on the hunt was spent looking for the next one and recovering from the last one.

"There are walleyes and bass." Father Pavel said as he fussed with his tackle box. "Rumor has it that a vacationer caught a fifty pound muskellunge, but I am not too sure about that one." He said with a chuckle. "Rumors have a way of becoming gigantic."

"Yeah." Sam said with a faint huffing laugh. "The source of many an urban legend. " He shook his head. "Killed way too many urban legends to discount anything."

"My whole religion is based on things man today has not seen." Father Pavel said with a laugh. "Faith in the intangible and unprovable. So maybe we shall catch a fifty pound musky."

"It's worth a shot." Sam grinned. " I mean if Dean and I could catch a vengeful spirit in a lake, you can catch just about anything out there."

"You don't have a water phobia, do you?" Father Pavel asked, remembering Sam explaining why Dean refused to fly if he could help it. Vengeful water spirit, didn't sound very gentle.

"Tight spaces." Sam said and explained about the closet situation with Maggie. "It's under control. Not like I go into hysterics or anything, but... yeah it's there."

"Well, that's not too bad." Father Pavel said. "There aren't many tight spaces here." The cottage was roomy, and surrounded by land, and the wide expanse of the lake. After detangling his lures he looked at Sam. "Would you like to see what bites tonight?"

"Sure. Pack up a few sandwiches and soda and head on over to the pier. Unless you wanna go out in a boat."

Father Pavel looked outside. The moon was out, but there was a fog coming in over the lake. "Perhaps the pier. The lake is large, would hate to come ashore on the wrong side after all." He said as he found a cooler to pack food in.

"Yeah, you're probably right. Sounds are going to carry like mad out there. Ever notice that about fog?" He asked as he pulled on a hooded sweat shirt figuring it was going to be chilly out there with the fog rolling in.

Father Pavel pulled on a cardigan sweater after he finished packing the provisions. "It makes it a tad bit creepier. Must be why horror movies are so fond of them. Very few weather patterns get one movie of their own, let alone two." He said.

"True although it was actually one movie made twice." He said with a laugh. "Dean and I used to debate which was better the remake or the original. I like the remake, he said the reincarnation thing made it lame."

"I've never seen either. But a friend of mine from the seminary is a big horror movie fan. Of course, he's my age, and remembers Vincent Price. In the theaters." Father Pavel said. "Shall we go?"

Sam grinned. "He used to scare me when I was little. But I always had to watch those movies when they were on late. Used to piss Dean off cause he had to deal with the nightmares. " He picked up the cooler. "Not that he said anything when I was scared... just the next time I wanted to watch a scary movie."

"Much better than the communist propoganda I was forced to listen to on the radio as a child." Father Pavel said with a chuckle as they headed out into the early night air. The fog was rolling in over the lake, seemingly as two layers as it reflected off the mirrored surface as they walked toward the pier. "But he was good with the nightmares?"

"The best. Still is." The nightmares had been pretty horrific when he had lost Jessica. When his world had turned upside down. "Never made me feel stupid for having them. He was more of a father to me when we were little than my father was. But that... I don't know.. sometimes I really resent Dad for that, others... I know it's not his fault."

Father Pavel just listened. He had turned into nearly a father confessor for the young man, he didn't mind. Everyone had things they needed to get off their chests. And it helped him understand his protege a little more with each tidbit he chose to share. "Your father did make mistakes, he was only human." Father Pavel said. "But it's not wrong to resent him, or be mad at him, for what his mistakes did."

"I know... it's just... the last time we were together we were fighting. I guess we were always fighting." Sam said as they walked. "I didn't know that he had made the deal with the demon to save Dean's life and I thought he hadn't done anything or tried anything... it ... I think he died thinking I hated him or something. "

"I'm sure he saw you with much clearer vision than you think he did." Father Pavel assured his young charge. "You did chase after him all over the country. You didn't shoot him. And when he woke up, you did rush to his bedside, correct?"

"Yeah." Sam said with a nod. "There just wasn't enough time. I never really thought he would ever be gone. He was...he hunted constantly for 23 years. Do you have any idea how rare it is for a hunter to survive that? I mean... we didn't have normal lives with hunting when there was time or need... it was more like the reverse. He lived to hunt. We thought nothing could take him down. Dad was... a force of nature. "

"One never thinks there is enough time." Father Pavel said, softly. "Force of nature? He sounds like he was quite a man."

"He was...even though most people wanted to shoot him on sight." Sam said with a laugh, then shrugged "He watched the love of his life die pinned to the ceiling and engulfed in flames. That would have broken most men." Sam was pretty sure in a lot of ways it had broken him. He hadn't felt quite whole or sane since that night. And he had grown up knowing it was real, that it was possible. He couldn't imagine the shock it must have been for his marine corporal father who lived a normal life, with the requisite blinders on.

"But he raised us, and kept us safe... as much as he could. " He didn't blame John for the times things slipped past him and got to him and his brother. He blamed John... for being John. Arrogant, stubborn, always right even when he was wrong. He blamed him for not telling him and preparing him for what was to come... what he was going to become. And he blamed him for not saying goodbye.

"He raised two fine young men." Father Pavel said. "Of course he did things wrong. The only infallible one is God himself. He should have told you about you, not left it to your brother to do so. But he gave you an inner core of strength to deal with it."

"I never expected him to be perfect." Sam said. "I just... never understood why he rode me so hard. Why he expected me to be better than everyone else. Until Dean told me the truth. It was because he knew... he knew there was a monster inside me waiting to get out. It's why he looked at me like he did. I never once doubted my dad loved me. Just that he believed in me. And I was right. "

"He believed in you." Father Pavel said. "He was a hunter. From what you say, what's the phrase, hard core? If he didn't believe in you, he wouldn't have raised you and instilled that sense of right and wrong, and justice."

Sam sighed. "I want to believe that." He said as they reached the dock. "Just like I want to believe that he didn't die believing I hated him, or that Dean is better off with me gone. Ya know... sometimes things just are how they are no matter how comforting it would be to believe otherwise."

"Your brother probably isn't better with you gone, but it's the way it has to be for now." Father Pavel said. "Every road has trials, ditches, speed bumps, construction zones. Sometimes you just have to slow down and watch your steering. Go from obstacle to obstacle, and don't look so closely at the horizon, or your tire might blow out. I heard that on Monster Garage while you were in the hospital."

Sam laughed at the image of the aging priest watching Monster Garage. "Okay, point taken. So what lure do we use to catch a 50 lb Musky?" He asked.

SNSNSN

Jack moaned softly, his head hurt and his stomach was less than happy. "Wow... didn't expect to sleep. How far out are we?" He asked.

"We'll be landing shortly." Teneke said. "I chartered this jet, so we do not have to deal with customs, or that messy passport business. Since I am going to assume that you didn't bring yours." He said, setting his newspaper aside.

"Don't have one. Never needed one when Ben and I traveled." He said running his hand over his face. Then swore. "I gotta call him when we get to ... where ever it is we are going. He's gonna worry and trust me no one wants a worried fire demon."

Teneke raised an eyebrow. He didn't fear Ben. Once inside the house, Ben was powerless. As it should be, the man was no man after all, he was a demon. "Certainly. Once we get to the family house, you may use the phone." Teneke said. "I'm surprised he let you come, though. Or your brother for that matter, neither seems to have fully realized that you're a grown man."

"They don't control me. They just worry about me. They don't know where I am, though. Didn't seem right to say I was taking off with Kaylie's kidnapper and the guy that sicced a federal agent on Dean. Still not happy about that. Just here to get things taken care of."

"Of course." Teneke said. "One never knows, you might like it here. It's Chinese and Western all at the same time. A miraculous metropolis of trade and culture all rolled into one."

"I might... but I am going to go home once this is dealt with. The woman I love, the rest of my family and my career are back in Texas. " He shook his head. "I didn't even bother to pack. God that is not ... like me." Jack usually planned thing out completely. Packed only what he needed but everything that he needed. He didn't leave things or people hanging. "I feel like I am going insane here."

Teneke was silent as they got into the hired car at the airport and headed to where he lived. Along with the remaining Hsiaos of the world. "Jack, you were panicky before. What did you do that made you seek out help so badly?" He asked kindly, hoping it was something he could blow out of proportion.

Jack's jaw twitched. "I hurt Kaylie." He said and explained all that had happened after leaving the restaurant..well...except for the credit card theft Dean pulled. The last thing he wanted was his brother back in jail.

Teneke shook his head. "I'm sorry about that." He said. "When it first manifests, it can manifest in dangerous ways. I would have warned you if you had stayed at dinner. I guess we should be grateful to your brother. Had he been five minutes later, you would have broken through that door...and ...well..." He left the rest unsaid.

"And what?" Jack demanded, dark eyes wide. He had a hard time accepting that he had done what he and already done. That he had been so out of control and enraged. 

"And you could have seriously hurt her." Teneke said, reluctantly, finishing his sentence. "Perhaps even killed her, or made her wish she was dead."

Jack shook his head. "I would never have hurt her, not seriously hurt her. I didn't even mean to hurt her when I grabbed her arm. "

"But you did, from what you said. What do you think would have happened if you had managed to get that door down before your brother came?" Teneke prodded. He needed Jack to vocalize his worst fears. That was step one. Well, actually step two. Step one was getting him on the plane, which Teneke did.

"Oh god... I was so out of control... I don't know what I would have done. " He said, as his dark complexion paled.

"Then as much as it hurts, you need to be away from her." Teneke said sympathetically. "So she'll be safe."

"Only until this is under control. I am not abandoning her. I am not Sam, dammit. I don't abandon the people I care about because it's inconvenient."

"Inconvenient?" Teneke said as the car pulled up to his estate. It was modest, but for a crowded city like Hong Kong it was very nice indeed. "Well, this is my home." He said as the car slowed. "There is a phone in the hallway."

"Thanks." Jack said and hurried to the phone, fumbling with the operator trying to figure out country code for the US but finally was able to get the call placed, dialing through to his home. His real home.

Kaylie had woken up, with a hang over, and Ben had to hide the grimace on his face as he watched her slump over her coffee and run a hand through tangled blonde hair. He kept forgetting that humans were actually rather fragile creatures. But he distracted himself when the phone rang. "Hello?" He said and frowned a bit as he heard a crackle of static before being connected. This had better NOT be Jack. He recognized the crackle, happened on intercontinental calls.

"Ben?" Jack said, sensing the frustration in his foster father's tone. "It's me, Jack." Oh yeah, like that was necessary. "Just wanted to let you know I'm alright."

"Jack, where the hell are you?" Ben demanded as Kaylie's head lifted to listen. "I know you're not in the country. You're over fucking seas. Did you go where I think you went? Where are you? I'm coming to get you right now." He said firmly. He rarely laid down the law with Jack. He rarely had to. But this was one of those times when Jack just wasn't thinking straight.

Dean walked in and caught the end of the conversation. "That Jack?" He said and Ben gave him a short nod. "Hey, baby brother, how's you're face?" He called out.

"Yeah... I'm where you think I am, but I gotta stay here and sort this out. It's... apparently when they jump started the mystical bull shit it... fubar-ed a few things. Like self control and anger management. If Dean hadn't stopped me... I would have really hurt Kaylie. He says he can help me sort it out. I'll be back home as soon as possible. I promise. God, I miss you guys already and I was out cold through the whole flight." He chuckled. "Tell Dean my face hurts, but not as much as looking at his."

"Jack, I'm not asking you." Ben said. "Where are you? Exactly. I think I can help figure out some mystical bullshit, don't you? I'm one big mystical creature when you look at it from a certain way!" He didn't trust the Hsiaos.

"I don't know the address." He said, sounding tired, drained. "But it's in one of the nicer areas of Hong Kong. Ben... this anger thing... it's... I've never been out of control before... what if I come back and I really hurt her... just tell her I love her and I'm so sorry. I will be home soon. If they can't do anything for me in a couple days... I'll give you a call again."

"Jack!" Ben growled into the phone. "Don't you hang up the phone! Now you listen to me. I've never called you a brat, but right now, I'm pretty close. Along with some other words I could use." But most of them he wouldn't use, Kaylie was in the room. Ben spent his formative years a whole other time, whole other culture. Some things you just didn't say in front of ladies. "This is ridiculous. You are not staying there. Have I mentioned I hid your existence from them for a fucking reason?"

"Yeah...I know... didn't say I trusted them. Still don't have the address. I will call as soon as I have more information to give you, okay? Just... let me try and get this... whatever it is under control. I'm not a kid anymore Ben."

"Yes you are." Ben countered. Hell, compared to him, everyone was a kid.

"Ben, give me the phone." Dean said.

"Whatever. Go screw one of my strippers."

"Give me the phone." Dean said again, and a tussle over the phone could be heard, along with a yelp from Ben. "Ice, works every time, dude." Dean said with a chuckle. "Jack, are you all right? Don't lie to me, are you all right?"

"No." Jack said honestly. "I am losing my fucking mind. I can't control my temper, and they say the rages are coming on because of the magic being woken up or something. Will you get Ben calmed down please? I'm just gonna give Teneke a few days to help me sort it out then I will be home. I'm not ditching anyone or running away just trying to get this fixed at the source. How is Kaylie doing?" He asked, and the guilt and pain in his voice revealed how he felt about what he had done.

"Calm him down? Dude, I just dumped ice on him. He's about to roast me." Dean said with a chuckle. "She's...ah...well, Ben, smart guy there, over medicated her. She just woke up with a massive hangover. So far all she's done is moan and drink coffee." He knew Kaylie enough to know that when she wanted to, she could retreat inside a shell that was nearly as thick as the walls Dean surrounded himself with.

"Tell her I'm sorry will ya?" He asked. "I gotta go. I'll see you when I get home." He hung up the phone knowing that there would be no end with out giving in if he kept talking and he couldnt give in .He had to get this fixed.

"You let him hang up?" Ben flared at Dean.

"Oh yeah, because I could l really stop him!" Dean shot back. They bickered back and forth about what to do for a bit.

"Where is he?" Kaylie asked softly, so much so that Dean and Ben had to stop arguing entirely to hear her.

"Hong Kong." Ben said with a sigh. "But you can bet I'm going to drag his scrawny ass back here."

Teneke watched the conversation. "Sometimes phone service is unreliable, especially to the United States." Teneke said apologetically. "Ever since the city was handed back over to China, the communists are vying for control of just about everything. They touch nothing to do with the economy, but phone service is fair game."

"Yeah... this is so where I want to stay." He said with a grumble. "Sorry, don't mean to sound ungrateful But I am definitely a spoiled American... plan to stay that way. I'm still really tired, is there someplace I can nap out for a while?"

"Of course." Teneke said as he showed Jack to a room. "We'll have some clothes brought, since you left in such a rush." He said. "The intercom works, the communists can't touch that, so call if you need anything."

"Yeah... thanks." He said as he went in and sat on the bed, taking out his wallet. He removed Kaylie's picture and propped it up on the bedside lamp before kicking his shoes off and stretching out on the bed.

The days past, phone service was lost, then they gained only local service. Teneke and his aides taught Jack how to control himself, but everytime he seemed to almost have it, he'd backslide and tear a room apart. Which couldn't have pleased Teneke more at this point.

Back in Texas, Ben woke Dean up. It was early morning, but Ben didn't sleep much. He didn't need to. And right now he felt that Dean didn't need to either.

"Dude...!" Dean said with a scowl and pulled the pillow over his head.

"You were sick after that dinner with the Hsiaos, right?"

"Dude..." Dean said, but saw Ben wasn't leaving. "Yeah, thought I was getting the flu again."

"But it passed."

"I'm not puking, am I?" Dean said. "You woke me up to check on the state of my health? I'm touched."

"Shut up. What were you wearing?"

"You're really not my type." "Dean..." "I don't know. Jeans. Boots..."

"Protection wise." Ben interrupted him.

Dean opened his eyes a bit and told him. The amulet, the bracelets. "That's why you were sick and that's why Jack went into a rage."

"Not following."

Ben rolled his eyes. "Wake up." He said again. "Teneke did something to the food, you rejected it. Jack didn't."

"Shit." Dean said and sat up with a groan. "Fine, let's go to Hong Kong."

SNSNSN

Sam had enjoyed the last few days on the lake. But he couldn't shake the feeling that there was something else going on under the surface of the water. The fog wasn't right, the air was too cold at specific times... consistent times.

He sat at the lap top pulling up records of the lake and the local area going back as far as a hundred years to put together the pattern. "Ah, a working holiday." Father Pavel said with a laugh as he brought out the coffee. They spent a majority of the time outdoors, even if it was just sitting on the porch. Clean air, sunshine, they were both relieved for it. Sam finally had some color back in his face, he was moving better. Yes, this was a good idea.

"Yeah... " Sam said distractedly. "Did you know that there have been over a hundred deaths on this lake in as many years?" He said, not that most people would think that odd but this wasn't a major tourist location. Small lake, small town, deaths didn't happen as often on the water.

"And I'm going to assume this is a pattern you've picked up?" Father Pavel said as he sat down and took his coffee mug. "What does the pattern tell you?"

"It tells me there is something that drags people out into the water and drowns them. I just haven't figured out what or why yet. Unfortunately I need answers to both of those questions before I can deal with it. I think that's why we have been getting so much fog. Ever notice that it rolls in at about the same time every night?"

"And it's not a normal weather pattern?" Father Pavel said. He wondered if Sam was reaching for a hunt. 

"Something about it feels... off." Sam said. He couldn't pin point what it was. But there was something out there and it wasn't just the illusive 50lb musky.

Father Pavel nodded. "So what would we do next then?" He asked. "The fog is thick every night."

"I'm gonna go get my gear." He said, wanting to get an EMF reading out there. "Don't go out on the docks or anything until I get back. Shouldn't take too long." Sam was back in hunter mode... Winchester Mode really, and it felt good. God it felt good.

He stepped into the nearest shadow and reappeared in the storage unit where he was keeping his truck during their travels. He opened the false bottom in the bed of the truck and started to grab what he thought he would need.

"Why are you fighting it, Sam?" The demon said. Just a voice, he hadn't bothered to take anyone right now. "The exorcisms...you think they'll win you points with God? God turned his back on you when you were conceived."

"No... no he didn't. God hasn't even really turned his back on you. I have experience with estranged fathers. " He said as he continued to pack. "And even if he had... it's another fight that you haven't won, another day I get to be Sam Winchester, not some sigil no one can pronounce."

"Why are you making this so hard on yourself?" The voice asked. "Why must you make me remove all the obstacles in your path?"

Sam stopped. "Don't you go changing the deal. You alter it, and it's null and void. The agreement was that I let the process start... that I open up to it... and I stay away from Dean and Jack, and you would allow me to do what ever the hell I want while I have a body of my own to do it with."

"Yes, you had to open up to it. You think traveling through shadows is opening up to it?" The voice snapped. "Surrounding yourself with holy relics, including that priest, is not opening up to it. It's hiding from it, trying to batter it down, destroy it a little at a time. It won't work."

"Yeah well, look on the bright side pops, every time I send one of your lackeys back to hell, I lose a bit of my soul along the way. So... who knows... maybe I'm just choosing my own path down the mountain." Sam said as he grabbed his now over flowing duffle and stepped into the shadows to return to the cabin and leave behind the creature that had taken everything from him and still screamed for more.

Father Pavel looked up from his book as Samuel returned. Then his eyes narrowed. He could feel the slight shift. "Working holiday for us both I suppose." He murmured.

"What?" Sam asked setting down the bag and looking around him. "Damn it, you followed me, didn't you? Leave me alone."

The demon hovered in black inkiness, with yellow eyes glinting through the swirling smoke that was his form. He had intended to finish the priest and take his son now, deal or no deal, but this one...

He reared back, almost looking to have a form for a moment, "You... " He spat at the priest, for the first time in nearly four hundred years that tone was false bravado.

Father Pavel put his book down reluctantly and stood up, looking at the swirling blackness. "You have no place here." He said, with much more authority than his body looked able to project. "You cannot have him."

"You are wrong, priest." It intoned. "He gave himself to me already. It's just a matter of time. Just a matter of his realizing that all he touches dies, better to embrace what he is and end his own pain." The swirling mass moved back as the priest rose, as though distance would keep it safe. 

"You're scared of him." Sam said with a grin, and laughed. "He's got your number, doesnt he?"

"Leave this place." Father Pavel said. "I ask only once, then I act. You do not want me to act."

"I'll see you soon, Sam." The demon said. "I think I'll go check on the family for you... while you're tossing that precious soul away on people that don't give a damn." He said then erupted upward and out of the cabin.

"Sorry... he was waiting for me back at the truck. I didn't know he would follow."

"It's perfectly alright, child." Father Pavel said as he sat back down and picked up his book. But he looked at Sam over the top of the book, a glimmer of amusement lighting his aged eyes through his reading glasses. "But I did tell you one day you would fear me, did I not?" It wasn't arrogance. It was God given power. Literally.

Sam laughed. "You know... that was actually a reassuring moment." He said. Knowing that if the yellow eyed demon feared the priest, then the old man would have no trouble besting him. "My dad would have loved to have seen that." He said digging out the EMF meter. "I'll be back in a few." He said heading for the door.

"I have no plans on going anywhere." Father Pavel said with a chuckle as he settled back with his book, as if a Fallen Angel had never paid him a visit. 

Sam walked down to the pier turning on his EMF meter, and watched it go steadily upwards. What ever was there was putting out a lot of juice.

SNSNSN

Jack slammed the bedroom door and locked it behind him. He leaned against it and slammed his elbow against it again and again and again. A howl of rage escaped him and he tore through his bedroom with all the destructive force of a small tornado.

Teneke waited, until he was quiet, and knocked on the door. "Jack, I know this is difficult. But you are slowly making progress." He called through the door. the progress was helped by lack of communication with the interlopers of course. The communists weren't ACTUALLY fooling with the phones, but Jack was raised in America. They had such a fear toward communism that it was easy to believe.

"This is not fucking progress!" Jack yelled out, but stayed clear of the door. "It's one step forward two steps back. I gotta get out of here. Screw all of this. I want to go home. "

"Jack, you are where you need to be. Please open the door so we may talk about this." Teneke said calmly.

Outside, Ben and Dean were outside the gates. Had taken forever to track the place down, seeing as it wasn't in Teneke Hsiao's name and all. But they were there finally. "So should we knock?" Ben asked dryly, tossing his cigarette away.

"Screw that." Dean said with a laugh as he started to scale the wall, clearing the other side. Ben rolled his eyes and went to flare tot he other side. And found himself back where he started, as if he got punched in the gut.

"Ben?"

"Can't get through." Ben said, angrily. 

Hendrickson was watching through the security cameras and picked up the phone calling the main house. "Tell Hsaio we have company. Winchester and the demon."

Teneke took the call. "Take care of him." He said bluntly. Not letting the man on the other side of the door know what he was talking about. "Jack, you need to come out. We've got a disturbance." If Dean managed to get past Hendrickson, he didn't want Winchester to find Jack.

"Fine, I'll be back for you." Dean said as he started across the lawn. Jack hadn't called, there was some proof that this was all a spell, and Dean's gut instinct was screaming at him.

Hendrickson made his way out of the security office and across the lawn. "You keep turning up like a bad penny, Winchester. If you have half the survival instinct I think you do, you will turn around go right back over that wall and take your demon buddy with you back to Texas."

"Obviously you don't know me as well as you thought." Dean said. He couldn't help but smirk, he'd been waiting for this one. "Because I'm not leaving here without Jack. So are you going to keep talking, or can I just kill you now?"

"I don't know, can you?" Hendrickson asked as he stepped forward. "Jack is fine. He is with his family. His real family."

Dean scowled and punched Hendrickson. "No, he's not." He snapped. Real family? Real family didn't hold you hostage, right? And he was sure that's what was happening.

Hendrickson grinned and stepped up to the fight. He had been wanting to beat the living hell out of Dean Winchester since he had first been sent after the brothers. Now was his chance.

It was something very primal. Jack was his younger brother, more than that, he was the baby brother. The one he had found late in life, and he wasn't going to be taken from Dean now. He was already trying to make up for lost time. That and Hendrickson had tried to get him executed. So it was personal. Either way, Dean was all in on this fight. It felt good. So he didn't stop. Not that he didn't take blows, oh man he was taking blows. He felt a rib snap at one point. Which was just what he needed. His knee was wrenched at another point. But it didn't stop him. Because Dean was relentless.

He finally did stop, when Hendrickson dropped for the final time, and Dean watched his body vanish. Into thin air, as if he had never existed. And in Dean's mind, right now, he didn't as he headed into the house to find Jack and drag his ass home.

The remaining security staff moved in having watched the fight on the surveillance cameras. "Stop right there." One said in heavily accented english.

"Oh man." Dean said, frustrated. "Come on, guys, I really am not in the mood for this." Like the 'bad guys' ever listened to that. But it was worth a shot, even if he knew it was a failed shot as he got jumped, his knee buckling under the extra weight.

They pinned Dean down, and zip tied his hands behind his back, and pulled him up to his feet once more, and escorted him into Teneke's office, shoving him down into a chair.

Dean was cursing up a storm, but the men weren't affected. They ignored him. They'd done their job as one went to report to Teneke, leaving two in the room with Dean as a few others returned to their normal post. They were speaking in Chinese to each other when one of them dropped, revealing a very shocked Kaylie. She'd seen it on TV, didn't know it would work, as the shattered remains of a vase collapsed with the guard. The other went for Kaylie, and Dean kicked at him with his good leg, and followed it up with a kick to the head.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Dean demanded.

"You're welcome." Kaylie said as she found a pair of scissors and cut the ties. "Where is he?"

"Sorry, they skipped the grand tour." Dean said as he limped toward the door. He could run if he had to, he was just hoping he wouldn't have to. Man, his leg was throbbing and he was using the wall for support.

Teneke Hsiao opened the door to find Dean and Kaylie standing there, and raised an eye brow. "You might as well sit down, both of you. " The girl he had not known about.

"Yeah, sure." Dean said with a roll of his eyes.

Kaylie looked at the man. "I want to see Jack. Now." She said, looking for all the world like she was about to stamp her foot and throw a tantrum. She'd broken so many freaking laws just to get here, then assaulted someone she didn't know. Her patience was at an end. "Or I'll scream. Jack's got this really weird way of hearing me when I scream. So I want to see him. Now."

"Sit down, child." Teneka said with a long suffering sigh. "Jack is.. in another of his rages at the moment. You will want him to calm down before you see him. I am sure you remember your last encounter with my grandson." He looked to Dean then back to his security officers. "Escort Mr. Winchester to the storage room in the basement until I determine if his presence requires the attention of the authorities."

"Sorry." Kaylie said to Dean. Then she took a deep breath, and let out the most blood curdling, loudest, highest scream she possibly could. Which would have made any horror movie queen insanely jealous.

Kaylie was right. Jack heard and recognized that scream. It wasn't one that he had heard often in his life but it was memorable... and it made his heart clench. 

"Kaylie." He mumured and was out of his room in seconds flat, running toward the sound, wondering if he hadn't gone completely off the deep end. There was no way Kaylie could be here... she was in Texas. He rounded the corner and pushed past his grandfather into the office. "Kaylie." He said and looked her over quickly. "Baby, what are you doing here?"

Kaylie stopped screaming when she ran out of air, shortly before Jack rounded the corner. She gave Teneke a look that clearly said 'told ya so' when Jack came in. He didn't look like he was in some sort of rage.

"You don't call, you took off with barely a word, Jack you didn't even pack." Kaylie said. "Then Ben and Dean leave in a rush, and Ben's outside and he can't get in, and this guy wants to lock Dean in the basement after his security people already tied him up and beat him all to hell, and I knocked that guy out, and I..." She said as she took a breath, having talked in a rush. "I don't know. I just kinda...came."

Dean sat down finally, his leg stretched out. Oh he was going to regret this in the morning. His head had been pounding before Kaylie decided to call Jack in her own special unique way. Teneke looked at Jack. "The young man broke into my house and assaulted my staff."

"Bull shit." Dean said. "Well, kinda. They started it." "And Jack, you know you're not...well, right now." He said as he gestured to Kaylie. 

Jack pulled Kaylie close, and held to her. His grandfather's words striking home. "The phones have been screwed up." He told her. "Or I would have called. I swear. I love you." He told them both, then looked at his grandfather "You know he's my brother, and you know who Kaylie is. You didn't have to have him hurt."

He kissed Kaylie gently then moved to look at his brother's leg. "And there is no way in hell he is going to be locked in the basement." He winced as he looked over at the knee. "That's gonna be the size of a melon come morning. It's not broken though... no clue what you might have done to tendons or ligaments. You sure know how to make an entrance, you know that?"

"It's a gift." Dean said, not breathing deep, because if he could he could ignore his ribs. "Besides, I have something important to say. Nevermind Ben was the one that figured it out, and he can't come in."

"I don't allow demons in my house." Teneke said cooly. "Jack, I will have them taken to the airport first thing. Kaylie was not hurt, there was no reason for that scream." Which had pierced his own ears, truthfully.

"I'm going with them." Jack said. "You've been great and all but I'm not getting better here. I think it's time to try things back home. Trust me... if anyone can keep me from going too far it's Ben."

"Jack, there's a reason you're not getting better." Dean said in a rush. Before Teneke could say anything. "That night, in the restaurant, I got sick. We ordered the same thing man, I got sick. You didn't. Because I pack more protection than you." He said, lifting the amulet he always wore as an example. "Dude, they're poisoning you or something."

"Nonsense." Teneke said. "Jack, see reason. You cannot go back to Texas. You don't belong there."

"I don't belong here." Jack said. "I think I am seeing reason for the first time since leaving the restaurant. Now you can arrange for a plane ride home, and we can sort this out long distance if I decide to forgive you, or we can walk out the front gate and take the Ben Express home and you can damned well believe I wont forgive you at that point."

"I'm taking the Ben Express regardless." Dean said with a chuckle. He didn't do planes if he could help it.

Teneke nodded. "Of course. I must think this over myself first." He said and left the office, locking the door behind him.

"What the hell?" Jack said hearing the lock and going to the door. It was that simple to key in the rage again. Jack focused his anger on that door slamming into it with a force that should have splintered it repeatedly.

"Dude." Dean said, reluctantly getting out of the chair as Kaylie backed away. "Come on, settle down." He said as he went through his pockets to his trusty (and always carried) lock pick. "Oh this is gonna hurt like a son of a bitch." He mused. The getting down to the ground and back up. He so needed a beer and some percocets a this point. "Jack, move." He said. He couldn't get to the lock if Jack was slamming into the door.

Jack turned his angry gaze on his brother and it was all he could do not to take his aggression out on Dean. He took two shuddering breaths and backed away from both of them. "You think they are doing this to me?" Jack asked through clenched teeth.

"Well," Dean said as he lowered himself to the ground with a painful groan, "did you seriously want to beat the shit out of me before we all broke bread?" He said, sitting on the ground. Because kneeling or squatting was definitely out. "Or, an even better question, a month ago, would you have ever tried to drag Kaylie anywhere like what happened before I beat the shit out of you?"

"Never in a million years. They said it was because of the magic... how it awakened with no training. But it's not getting any better, man. I don't know what to do... I'm trapped here, and I'll hurt people if I go back."

"Dude, they brought it out while I was still on death row. You were fine till the end of my trial, and right through a week and a half later." Dean pointed out. He was having some trouble with this lock, dammit. "You were even fine when we got to the dinner." Kaylie took a step closer to Jack and put her hand softly on his arm. "It's okay." She said softly.

"It's not okay, Kaylie. I scared you... I was a bastard that night... I hurt you... that is never gonna be okay." He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I am such a fucking idiot. I'm sorry."

Kaylie looked at Jack for a long moment and took her hand off his arm. Then she closed the space between them and wrapped her arms around his midsection. She was a tiny person, not far above five feet tall, but tall enough that when they were both standing, she could hear his heart by resting her head against his chest. "You were, and I forgive you." She said.

He closed his arms around her, feeling the closest thing to at peace since this whole mess had started. "I love you... thank you." He breathed, then looked at Dean. "Losing your touch?" He asked in regards to the lock. "No." Dean said with frustration. "It's unlocked...at least the lock is. Can't open the damn door though. Maybe the windows and we'll make a break for it?" He suggested.

Jack swore. "It's spell locked." He said and moved to the window to see if it could be opened. But there was no joy to be found there, either. "No such luck." He walked back over to his brother. "Let me help you up off of the floor at least, that can't be good for that knee."

"Dude, my knee is fine." Dean said with a scowl as he got up under his own power. How could he convince them to make a break for it when the opportunity presented itself if he had to be picked off up the floor after all? He limped over to the chair and flopped down in it. "Okay, they have to come check on us at some point, right? So we'll overtake them."

"Right." Jack said, although he wasn't so sure. Dean didn't know what he was up against, Jack did. These weren't rent-a-cops, or barroom bouncers. His grandfather's security force was hard core. "Maybe I can reason with him and get him to let you two go back home."

The door opened and Teneke entered followed by two of his guards. Kaylie was going to argue that point, about her going home without Jack, when the door opened.

Dean raised an eyebrow at them. "Well, that didn't take long." He said, dryly as the guards approached him. "Whoa, honch, we already went through this."

"Take him." Teneke said in clipped tones. Dean put up a good fight, but his knee put him at a disadvantage, one they were more than willing to exploit as he went down in a cry of pain before being knocked out. It was clean, it was nearly graceful, but Kaylie still cringed at the sound of Dean getting whacked in the skull with a pistol.

"Jack, I know this is difficult to understand. I don't expect you in this moment to try, but if you value Miss Ingham, you will not move."

"And if you hurt him again, I will kill you." Jack said firmly, stepping between his grandfather and Kaylie. This wasn't the rage speaking. This was Jack. "Why are you doing this? God, I thought the evil that was in Mom came from the demon. Hell, it probably came from you. The demon was more sincere."

"You said it yourself your mother kidnapped Winchester for a purpose the last time. It's prudence to find out why." He said with a nod as the burly men picked the unconscious Dean up. But even unconscious, he moaned slightly at his injuries being aggravated. He waited until they were gone, disappeared around the corner. "Perhaps Miss Ingham can tell that Ben to leave, rather than leaving him pacing outside and littering my sidewalk with his cigarettes."

"Send her outside the gates, let her go home." Jack said. He wasn't going to leave Dean here with him. "She kidnapped him to torture my father. Nothing more. Just send them both home. Ben will take them out of here and I'll stay."

"Certainly." Teneke said with a bow of his head. "Miss Ingham, you're free to go." He wasn't budging on Dean though.

"Jack...no." She said, ignoring Teneke. "I'm not leaving here without you." Knowing the minute she walked out the door she'd never see him again. "And you won't leave without Dean. Ben won't leave without all of us. Well, he might leave without Dean." She said with a weak smile.

He turned her to face him. "I don't want you here. You saw what they did to Dean. I need you safe. " He said caressing her cheek. "I'll be home, one way or another, count on it. I love you... we're going to see all those plans we made happen. But I need you to go, Angel." Ben would go on the warpath. His grandfather had no idea what he had just started.

To say Kaylie didn't agree with this would be a huge understatement. But she nodded. She kissed Jack, and clung to him for a moment before leaving with one of the security guards.

"You will be able to see her leave through that window." Teneke pointed. "To assure yourself that she will not be harmed."

Jack moved over to the window and watched. "What is it that makes you think this is going to work? That some how threatening and harming the people I love is going to endear you to me. "

Teneke shook his head. "They cloud your mind." He said. "And you let them." He watched the blonde American go through the gates, then turned toward Jack. "You will understand one day."

Kaylie jumped at the sound of the gates closing behind her, a clang of iron against stone. ANd looked for Ben. He wasn't there. Anywhere. She was now alone in Hong Kong, with no plan other than to find Jack. She did that. Other than that, nothing. So she sat outside the gates, back against the stone, knees up to chest, trying to figure out what to do.

Teneke turned from Jack as his phone rang. "Listen up you son of a bitch." Ben said in fluent Chinese. He'd been alive long enough to master as many languages as he wanted to. "I want to see three humans, you know which ones I'm talking about, outside your house or more than your store in Hong Kong is going to burn."

"There is one waiting out side my gates now. Take the girl home and cut your losses. My grandson has an undue attachment to his brother so they shall both remain."

"Not acceptable." Ben said. "I'm in the produce section right now. Place will go up like timber. If you're smart, you'll get your employees out of here. And I will personally wring the neck of anyone I cross that has connection to you if you so much as hurt a hair on any of their heads. Including Dean. Your magic can keep me out, but it can't stop me. You can't stop me. Don't push me. You've got an hour."

Teneke hung up the phone angrily and phoned his store, warning the employees to close down the store, then spoke with his security force, sending out some of them to deal with Ben at the store.

"That was Ben." Jack said knowingly. "If you are smart, you'll do what he says. He won't stop until he destroys you.. he made a promise to my mother to protect me. This whole thing is pointless anyway. You can't brain wash me. Not now that I am on to you. "

"On to me? That's a little overblown, don't you believe?" Teneke said with a frown. "Everything works out as it should. I have no fear in that. He's long lived, but immortality is for the gods, not demons."

"You did something to me to bring on the rages. No onto you isn't over blown. " Jack said. "I just watch you order my brother carted off to some basement so you can experiment on him to find out what it was my mother was after in him. You are gonna tell me you're one of the good guys after that? Get real." Jack wasn't worried for Ben. Ben could survive anything his grandfather could dish out. He didn't have any such illusions about Teneke. He started toward the door. He was going to find Dean.

"Jack, don't." Teneke said sharply. "Dean is no longer your concern now. Your girlfriend has been released, but Dean is older business than even before I knew of your existance."

"Dean is my brother and will always be my concern. Enjoy whatever fires Ben is starting for you, cause it's about as close to your ancestral fires as you are going to get. "Jack said in return and started down the hall.

Mei ducked around a corner as Jack slammed out of her brother's office and waited until he passed, then grabbed his sleeve and pulled him into a room, covering his mouth with her hand. "Shh!" She admonished. "I know where he is, but you cannot go to him right now."

He had to force the tension to leave his body looking down at his aunt. He pulled her hand away from his mouth. "Why should I trust you?" He asked in whisper soft tones. If she knew where to find Dean, then he would play along for now.

"You do not have to. It is common sense, Jack." She said softly. "You find him now, you will be overtaken. You know that. And he is in no condition to help you, is he? As much as it pains you, you must wait. For the time." She reached into her pocket and brought out a bag filled with herbs. "I do not expect you to trust me. But should you decide to, then take these with your food. The food will nourish you, but it will not enchant you. Now I must go. Tell no one that we spoke, I will take your girlfriend to a hotel." She knew the girl was waiting outside with no clue on what to do now. She nodded and moved away. Jack couldn't understand her predicament. He was a man raised in America. She was a woman raised in China. 

Jack tucked away the herbs and sighed, then nodded. "Thank you... for taking care of Kaylie." He said. "Where have they taken Dean?" He asked. He couldn't get him out of there but he couldn't let him go through this alone. "If I don't try, they will know something is up."

"He is in the basement. There is a storage room in the back, behind the laundry facilities. It is behind a hidden door." She said with a sigh. She reached up and cupped Jack's face. "I see much of your mother in you. The good part. The part that broke away from this family, ran to America and never looked back."

Jack looked at her wanting to see in her some part of his mother, some part of her that was good and kind and loving. Because that was the woman he remembered. Not the one that kidnapped and tortured children and young men. "Why is he doing this?" Jack asked.

"Because no one has ever really told him no before. When he wants something, he is used to getting it." Mei said. "He does not deal with disappointment well. He never has. He never thought he'd be without male heirs."

"apparently no one ever told him that old adage, you get more flies with honey." Jack grumbled softly "okay... time for me to go and tear the house apart looking for Dean." Jack said. He couldn't actually find him just yet, because that would be too telling, but he had to make a show of it. "Go take care of Kaylie. We'll sort out getting Dean out of here later."


	12. Chapter 12

Dean woke up with a groan. He remembered being knocked out, that hadn't tickled. He was laying on a cold floor on his stomach, that's the first thing he noticed. The second was his knee. Trying to raise himself up, and it just wasn't happening on that knee.

He opened his eyes, and still saw nothing. But he could feel the walls. Cold walls. Flipping over to his back, he could touch the walls on either side of him. Concrete, like the floor.

Please. No.

Flying was his thing. He tried to never do it. Being trapped in a hunk of metal 30,000 feet above the ground, with no control. But he wasn't fond of dark, closed spaces either. Because he remembered the last dark closed space he had been in. His breath was coming fast as his eyes darted in the darkness for any bit of light they could find, always coming up with nothing as he wiped the sweat off his brow with the back of his hand.

Then he forced himself to his feet, keeping his weight off that leg as long as he could, and felt around the walls until he found the door. And started to bang it. Punch it. Kick it. He had to get out of here, he couldn't breathe.

Jack had intended to play it cool until he had an escape plan. He had torn through the house actually with a real mad on, this time demolishing anything that looked like it might be of value with a cold calculating efficiency.

But then he heard it... the pounding and thumping, coming from behind the wall. A secret door she had said, well it wouldn't be so secret with Dean whaling on it now would it. "Dean!" He yelled out, going to the place where the sound seemed to originate. "Dean, calm down and talk to me man... I need you to talk to me so I can figure out this damned door." He began to look around for any incongruity that would indicate a door. "They thought I was pissy before? Oh they don't know a damned thing about me." He muttered to himself, more than ready in that moment to be the last remaining Hsaio in existence. "Change my last name to Winchester, I swear."

Dean heard his brother, but he needed to get out of this room. It was growing smaller by the minute, he could nearly feel the walls pressing in on him. "Get me out of here, Jack." He said, as he kept pounding the walls. Eventually something would give, him or the wall. Either would be good right now. Calm down? There was no calming down until he could breathe. The air was hot and musty, and there didn't seem to be any new air coming in as he kept pounding, heedless of his knee. He could take care of his knee after he was out of here. He just had to get out of here. How was he supposed to get out of here?

"Mr Hsiao, you need to leave." A man said from behind Jack. "Just turn around, and go. Do not make us hurt you."

"You really don't want to go there right now." Jack said darkly. "Trust me, he isn't paying you enough to go there." Jack took a deep breath, then another, and put his hand through the false wall, reaching in to find the catch for the concealed door. He wasn't in the mood to worry about his so called grandfather's house. "Hang on Dean, I'm coming."

Dean was beyond hearing. He was thrashing the small closet as best he could, sweating, wide eyed. He could hear his heart in his ears and nothing else. Not even his fists hitting the wall over and over until he was smearing blood over the walls, not that he could see that. He was still encased in darkness, complete pitch black. He started to see pinpoints of light, then realized, in a detached sort of way, that it wasn't light. He was hyperventilating and he felt like his chest was being crushed. He was going to die here, at the hands of Maggie's father. There was some sort of poetic injustice there, he was sure.

But he didn't care, he had to get out of there. Five minutes ago wouldn't have been soon enough.

The man grabbed Jack and shoved him across the room before Jack could get to the latch. "Again, please return to the main house. This is not your business."

"The hell it's not." Jack said wading into the fight, and landing an old fashioned punch to the man's face, and followed it up with a spinning back kick. This wasn't sparring, this wasn't brawling with his brother, this was family, and his family was in pain. He didn't pull either punch. "And unless you wanna see what comes of being raised by demons, I would get the fuck out of my way." He said going for the latch again.

The man stepped away as Jack released the latch. Then kicked Jack inside and locked the door once more.

Dean had seen the door open and made a break for it, only to be shoved back down to the ground under the weight of his little brother's body. So close. So fucking close, which only made it so much worse.

"Dean!" Jack said as he eased off of his brother. He had caught a glimpse of the man's hands and the blood on the walls when he had opened the door. "Come on man, Sit up for me." He said, helping him up against the wall. "I need you to breathe with me, okay?." He knew Dean was panicking and it wasn't something he had ever thought to see. It just made him all the more angry. "Come on, you gotta slow it down with me." He pulled the arms off of his shirt to use to wrap his brother's hands, which was the best he could do at the moment. "In... ... out...Dean, listen to me... in... ... out."

Breathing was the last thing on Dean's mind. "Jack?" He said. "God, not again." He said as he got up after Jack wrapped his hands. Locked in a closet by a mad person with his little brother. So not good. Way too many memories for that one to even try to think straight as he started banging on the wall, door, Jack had come through. "We gotta get out of here. Dude, I gotta get out of here."

"Dean... you need to get off of that leg and calm down before you hurt yourself." Jack said in a firm tone. Using the sharp tone that had gotten through to Dean in his delirium. Sounding like John had to work in his favor sometime, right?

Dean was far beyond any placating at this point as he slammed on the door. "Open the fucking door you son of a bitch!" He yelled at it, giving the door everything he had. But human flesh rarely did well against reinforced steel. "Come on, you son of a bitch!" He couldn't stay in here. At the very least he had to get Jack out, Jack had to get out before they came for him. They were going to come for him, just like Maggie had, and his forearms burned at the memory of it.

Jack moved and closed his arms around his brother, holding him tight and taking two steps back. There wasn't much more room than that. But it was all he could think of to keep his brother from hurting himself any more than he already had. "We'll get out of here. I promise... but you have to calm down or you won't be in any condition to go when the time comes."

Dean took a deep breath. "I'm calm, I'm calm." He said in a normal voice, as he kept breathing, his head rushing at it. But he waited until Jack released his grip and launched himself right back at the door. He was not stopping until it opened. Stopping was not an option, because he couldn't go through that again. Jack was inside the room with him, there was no one left outside to get him out. He had to get them out. Their father had taught him never to give up, not when someone else was on the line.

Jack swore. Sarcasm he got from the Winchester side of the family, but his gift of vulgarity came purely from Ben. "Don't you make me knock you out." He said as once more he pulled his brother away from the door. "Don't make me stand here holding you like a toddler with a temper tantrum. I'll do it man, it won't be pretty."

"Then help me, dammit!" Dean shot back. "We can't stay in here, Jack." His voice nearly childlike. "We're sitting ducks, and sitting ducks get shot. Or bled. We gotta get out of here."

"I won't let anything happen to you. But you have to calm down. " Jack said in as soothing a tone as he could manage. "You're not alone... Ben is working on it... we'll have help ... right now you need to calm down. I know it's hard, and probably feels impossible but please... you're only hurting yourself right now.. the door doesn't even notice."

"Ben...can't come in." Dean said with a chuckle bordering on hysterical. "He can't even get past the gates. All he could do is burn this place down around our ears and hope we're okay. And smoke. He smokes too much. Right now, Ben can't help us. No idea what they did to Kaylie," since he had been knocked out. Had a nice sized lump to show for it too. "And sitting here, calming down, is NOT going to get us out."

"Kaylie is out... I managed to get him to let her go." Jack said. "And no it's not going to get us out, but neither is tossing yourself at that door until you pass out. It's reinforced steel." He said having gotten a look at it when fishing for the latch. "The only thing you are going to break is yourself. I'm sorry I got you into this."

"Jack, get away from the door." Dean said in a quiet voice. His brother was blocking the exit. Sure, it wasn't open yet, but he had to believe it would. Or he'd go insane. Literally. "Jack, move. You want to sit down, go ahead. I'm not easy to break. But I will break if I have to stay in here. Now, move."

"Dean... don't. I won't let you hurt yourself anymore. I will lay you out if you start that shit again. As it is I am gonna have to cut the leg off of those jeans, your knee is swelling too much for them. "

"Compression." Dean said, sounding oddly logical. "It's compressing the swelling, which is what a goddamn ace bandage would do anyway." By the end of his statement, his voice had regained the nearly hysterical note, panic ridden and bleak. "And I'll hit you back. Now move." He said, going around his brother in the tight space they had.

Jack let Dean get past him. "I'm sorry man." He said as he sucker punched him to the back of the head, knowing it wouldn't take a lot to knock his brother out, since he had been hit once already.

Once Dean hit the floor, Jack pulled him away from the door, and started triage as best he could. Starting with cutting his jeans away from that leg. The small pocket knife he had wouldn't do them much good for getting through the door, but it would at least help with keeping his brother from losing his leg at the knee.

SNSNSNSNSN

Ben wasn't even full on raging. Not that one could tell as he threw the last package over the wall. He couldn't get through himself, but he could throw things over it. Then he took out the prepaid cell phone he had bought from some kiosk (probably stolen, but who cared) and called Teneke.

"Look out your window." He snarled into the phone. "Still think I'm kidding around?" The unfortunate guards had gotten in his way. One had tried to shoot him. Another had the idea to spray him with a fire extinguisher of all things.

Teneke looked out the window. "And what is it you think you have accomplished?" He asked. "I still have Jack and the Winchester boy. That isn't going to change. You might as well go home."

"It's called a seige." Ben snapped. "I can't come in, you can't come out. I'll take away your business. I'll take your money. Anyone who walks out those gates doesn't get to come back in. And when I'm done, even your ancenstral crypt will be nothing but ashes. Just give me Jack and Dean and this all goes away."

"Jack doesn't want to go with you. He came here willingly instead of allowing you to try and help him. He knows where he belongs and without Jack, I can't possibly imagine what use you have for Winchester. Just take the young lady home and go away. "

Through the gate, Ben could see where Teneke was. In his office, lording over his manor. And Teneke's office started to become unbearably hot.

"Give me back my son, you bastard." Ben said. "I'm not asking, I'm not requesting, I'm demanding you sack of shit. And my patience is at an end."

"You don't have a son, Demon." Teneke said staring out the window at Ben, sweating from the heat, but not showing it. "Jack is a promise that you have fullfilled. Nothing more. He is MY blood. He will remain. Now leave my property before I toss what is left of Winchester over the wall."

"We both know he's not dead. He's no use to you dead." Ben said, with a laugh. This man thought he was an idiot. "You are nothing to Jack. You obviously don't know him if you think hurting Dean and sending Kaylie away brings out the warm and fuzziness in him. Tell you what, you've got twenty minutes. Then your crypt gets attacked. I'll light those fire for you one more time. The ancestors will love it. Then, well, I've got some friends that would love to party with me."

"This is not a war you want, Demon." He said. "Remember that." Teneke hung up the phone, and turned on his heel to head down to the basement. It was time for Jack to get over his attachment to Winchester, and the Demon.

Teneke, flanked by guards, opened the door. Winchester was out cold, so that was at least one less problem. "Jack." He said, highly disappointed his grandson was in here. "It is time to go. Let's get you cleaned up."

"Not without my brother." He said putting himself between the guards and Dean. "The illusion is over. I know I'm a prisoner here, not someone you give a rat's ass about, so either both of us come out of the closet or you can just go fuck off."

"Jack you are my grandson. My only grandson. But you are being unreasonable." Teneke said. "And your unreasonableness has caused me great headaches over the last few hours. If you do not come out now, you will be left in there alone." For when they came for Dean. Jack had helped them out, whether he realized it or not, by rendering the American unconscious for them.

Jacks eyes narrowed. "You aren't touching my brother." He said firmly. "And I didn't cause any of this. You brought it on yourself when you arranged to shanghai me."

"Jack, you disappoint me." Teneke said. "I could have made you an important, powerful man. Opened you up to possibilities you had not even dared to dream of. I would have budged on your girlfriend. But this insubordination will not be tolerated. You have sicced a demon on my home." He tossed the phone into room. "Call him off. The number is dialed, just push call."

"I didn't sic anyone on any one. You want me to call Ben and try and calm him down, you have to give a little." He said as he picked up the phone. "We take Dean to my room. You can lock us in for all I care but he is going with me to my room and staying there. I will call Ben from there once he is settled in." Or he would call and tell Ben to do his worst and he and Dean would deal with the after math.

"Don't be a fool." Teneke said. "The demon will burn this place around our ears. You are encased in steel, you will fry. And he cannot cross the threshold of my property to save you. It is suicide if you do that."

"Suicide... or watching you torture my brother and spending my life as your slave? Suicide works. " Jack said in all honesty. "So... is that a refusal to put Dean and I in a more acceptable location?"

"Winchester is a danger." Teneke said. "He remains. You may move back to your room if you wish. Now call him."

Jack looked at the number and memorized it. "Hey Dad, it's me." He said glaring at Teneke as he did it. "So ah... this son of a bitch is torturing Dean, has no intention of letting me out of here so...burn it to the ground. Make the Alamo look like a picnic."

Ben breathed out in relief. "Jack, listen to me. You're not going to like this, but listen to me." He said. He knew he could light the place up like a Roman candle. But doing so would kill Jack. He could control the fire up to a point. But not being able to get in there, to see where Jack was, whatever control he had would not be enough. "Dean will be fine. They need him alive, anything they do we can fix later. Whatever he wants, right now, you need to do. You need to do what he wants for the littlest while. Because I am not, I am NOT torching you."

"They are going to torture him like Mom did." Jack said, a desperation in his tone. "They are gonna kill him before it's all done. He's in bad shape already, leg busted, concussion, busted rib... they're locking him in a closet. "

"I know, I know." Ben said. "Jack, keep your head on. You need to keep your head on." He didn't hear Dean in the background, which meant he was knocked out. "I've got him under pressure, he's got..." Ben looked at his watch, "five minutes then I torch the crypt. I need some help on the inside. You memorized the phone number, I know that. Cause you're a sneaky kid, but you can't help me if you're in that closet."

"If he wakes up in here alone... he could off himself without half trying." Jack was stalling giving Ben time to tell him what he needed. He knew he wouldn't be able to keep the cell phone and finding another one to call him from might not be as simple as it would seem.

"Jack, we don't have much time. Start talking. Start trying to convince me to stop." He said and waited for Jack to start talking. He knew Jack could talk and listen at the same time. A strange gift, but one that was appreciated right now. "I need a crack in the mystical fissure. From there I can work. Once I have a crack, I can bring the rest of it down. And don't argue, but you need to let them take your brother. They'll be distracted with the ritual, the magic will be weaker. Unless you have a better idea, that's the plan."

Jack closed the phone. Knowing that Ben would know how to take that. There was nothing more to say. He was right and it was killing him inside to have to let them hurt him. He had never felt like a failure in his life at anything until now.

He threw the phone at his grandfather's face. "If you hurt him... don't go to sleep. Not ever... cause I'll be there... proving just how much of a Hsiao I really am." He growled and pushed past the guards and walked toward his room.

"Good boy." Teneke said, catching the phone. "Guards at the entrance, I don't want him down here. Call in reinforcements for the trash on my sidewalk also. Now, is everything set up?"

Jack didn't look back, if he had he wouldnt have been able to keep walking. He let himself breathe, slowly relaxing, slowly opening up to the part of himself he would bind away once this was done, never to be tempted by again. But if he was going to save his brother, he was going to have to see what spells were woven around them. That at least was something useful to come out of it all. One that Teneke had arranged for him to learn early on.

He found a cordless phone and picked it up and kept walking until he turned off the path to his room and into a spare room, locking the door behind him. Then he called Ben once more. "Okay... I'm away from there... let's hurry about this. I don't like them alone with Dean."

"Okay, I'm at the east wall." Ben said. "Big ass stone wall in front of me, but did you know even stone melts at high enough temperatures? I can get the wall down, easy. What you need to do is find the binding circle. They reversed it, cheap trick in my book. And mar it. Scratch it, piss on it, whatever." He knew Jack was barely holding together, so speed was of the essence. The quicker he got in, and the quicker they got to Dean, and the less damaged Dean was, the better Jack would be.

"Right." Jack said as he got up and started walking around the place, knowing the guards and his grandfather were primarily distracted with Dean.

Problem was he didnt know what he was looking for. It could be anything. He didn't know anything about the ritual magic side of things. He looked around and saw lines of energy flowing everywhere in the house, but following them didn't lead him to anything that looked obvious as his source.

He saw her walking around the corner and hurried after her, his aunt, the one who had wanted to help him before. He grabbed her arm and escorted her into the nearest room. "I need your help please." He said, knowing that Ben would be hearing this and probably not approving at all.

"I cannot rescue your brother." She said softly. She remembered when Teneke would look after her, like Jack looked after his older sibling. It seemed such a long time ago, and perhaps it was.

"That's my job. What I need ... is to know where the binding circle is... the circle that is keeping Ben out. Please... " He knew he was asking a lot. He was asking her to betray her brother, asking her to open her home to something that she abhorred. "It's the only way I can save him. He doesn't deserve to be tortured like this no matter what that bastard thinks."

"What you want to let into my home has been piling bodies just inside the gate." She said, horrified at the aspect of Ben entering her home.

"War sucks." Jack said. "And we didn't start this one. We didn't come looking for you, we didn't kidnap anyone or drive them insane or torture them. He brought this on himself. You can't stop Ben ... nothing can... except Dean and I leaving this place alive."

Unfortunately Jack made sense as Mei swallowed and silently walked away from him on quiet feet, expecting him to follow. Through the house to a parlor type room. "The center is behind that painting." She said, nodding toward it. "It is built into the very foundation of the house, but if you can punch through a wall, you can mar the center." Her brother would probably kill her for this transgression, but she was dead if she didn't help.

"Head to the hotel where you took Kaylie, do it fast while he's distracted with Dean and then us." Jack said as he slipped into horse stance and took three quick breaths and slammed his fist through the wood paneling and plaster board, coming in contact with the cinder block on the other side.

He swore and pulled his hand out of the hole swearing to make a sailor blush as he used both hands, one now swelling rapidly, pull away the wall to reveal enough to the seal on the cinder blocks.

He took out his pen knife again and began to scrape at the seal, destroying it with the first scratch. He picked up the phone he had set aside. "Let's get the hell out of dodge." He said.

Ben could feel it the moment the barrier dropped. He flared into where Jack was. "If you really wanted a family vacation, I could think of much better places." Ben said. "Where is he?" Mei's eyes widened at the sight of Ben, and she hurried out.

"Downstairs." He said as he turned to lead the way, at a run. Teneke had been allowed too much time with Dean as it was. "Best thing these bastards ever did for Mom was to disown her." He told Ben.

"So, no more questions on why you don't have grandparents then?" Ben said. Once they got to the basement, he moved Jack behind him. "Stay behind me or I will leave you up here." He said. He wasn't risking Jack for Dean. No way in hell, that thought never even crossed his mind.

Jack paused but nodded. Not thinking of it as protecting himself but the fact that Ben was a tank. Nothing was going to hurt him and it was more likely that they would get to Dean and out quickly if Ben took the lead.

Ben went down the stairs and listened for any noise. Then kicked a door to a supply work room open and glared at Teneke. "Back away from the brat." He said. "Do you really want to piss me off right now?"

"This isn't over, Demon." Teneke said, but backed away from Dean. "You have no idea what you have in your midst."

"No." Ben growled. "You have no idea what you have in your midst." He said as the room got hotter. "Jack, get your brother out of here. I'll be up shortly."

Jack didn't have to be told twice as he moved to pull Dean into a fireman's carry and haul him out of the room, moving toward the gates with every intent of not being there when Dean awakened.

It didn't take nearly as long as Ben would have liked. But humans were so vulnerable to things like heat and fire. He came out to where Jack was waiting on the sidewalk, casually brushing a bit of ash off his arm. "Nice weather, huh?"

"Incredible. Kaylie is at a hotel somewhere...guess we start calling until we find her, huh?" Jack said as he looked over his brother's injuries. Most of them he could take care of without breaking any laws.

Dean woke up roughly as Ben and Jack tried to figure out where Kaylie was. The first thing he noticed was fresh air. And the blinding brightness of the day against his eyelids, making him squint when he did open his eyes. Then he noticed one leg was colder than the other.

"Dude, I liked these jeans." He said mournfully as he carefully touched his head. "And you deserve to get your ass kicked for this one." They'd managed one slit down one forearm, wrapped already by Jack with another part of his tshirt. It throbbed, but so did his head. And his knee. And his ribs. Pretty much everything.

"We saved him...why?" Ben asked dryly as he dialed another hotel.

"Because he's already house broken and a new puppy wouldn't be." Jack said in a serious tone even though he was joking. "And you don't get up yet. You need to reserve your strength for the trip home. It's gonna be a doozy with that head of yours, and I wouldn't have had to hit you again if you had just ... stopped trying to beat yourself up with a steel door. "

"The door started it." Dean grumbled as he sat up. He didn't get up, he just sat up. Because, well, the sidewalk wasn't comfy to lay on. "Dude, I think Ben's bleeding."

"Not mine." Ben said as he turned off the cellphone and threw it away. "Found her. She's actually in a rather nice place, suite and all. About to kill all three of us, but we'll get to die in comfort at least. Unless your brother wants to continue whining on the sidewalk?"

"He does not." Jack said as he offered Dean a hand to help him up. "Yeah she didn't want to leave when the son of a bitch made an offer... she is probably going to make good on her old man's threat when we get there."

"Lovely." Ben said as Dean took Jack's hand and carefully stood up, not putting any weight on that leg of his at all. Then Ben grabbed them both and flamed into Kaylie's hotel suite. Mei was trying to get Kaylie to eat something, but dropped the spoon when Ben appeared.

"He isn't going to hurt you... you helped us. "Jack said quickly. "Although you might wanna go shower or something, Ben." He added knowing the blood was his grandfather's and that just wasn't something a sister needed to see.

He eased Dean over to the sofa, not wanting to make him hobble into one of the bedrooms. "Stay put." He added and then moved to Kaylie. "Forgive me?" He asked her gently.

"I really shouldn't." Kaylie said once Ben disappeared into one of the bathrooms. "Do you know what I did? I stole money. From Ben, in that drawer he keeps at the shop. Bought a forged passport. Bought a plane ticket. Bluffed my way through customs, wandered all over Hong Kong for three days..."

"Dude...she's more of a Winchester than you!" Dean said, laughing.

"Shut up." Kaylie said to Dean. "But yeah, I forgive you. As long as you don't tell Ben."

"I won't tell Ben." He said and pulled her to him, holding her close. "It's over." He said. "We can go home and go back to what passes for normal in our lives, and relax. God I love you." He said. "You did all that to find me... Gotta say I'm impressed. But you know that means you can't rag me about practicing medicine without a license on Dean." He teased.

"Fine. I'll rag on Dean instead, since he's the clumsy one." Kaylie said, clinging to her boyfriend as if he might disappear if she let go.

Mei handed Dean a fashioned ice pack, and Dean went about telling her how to get out of trouble. Lay low, line up the alibis, and never mention her brother again. She was saddened, hurt, but she nodded. She had no intention of spending the rest of her life in a Chinese jail after all.

"I have a friend in the countryside. I will visit her." She said. "Tell...Ben...thank you is the wrong word." He had killed her brother, right or wrong, he had killed Teneke. But saved her nephew. Did it even out. "Tell him careful journeys."

"I will." Jack said. "You can ... contact me if you want. " She had helped them... she was the one connection he had to his mother as a human being, as a real person not the monster. The part of her he wanted to remember, and push the rest into oblivion.

"Perhaps. After the fury dies down." Mei said with a bow of her head as she took her leave of the suite.

"She paid for three days." Kaylie said. "So Dean could at least rest a bit."

"Rest? I had plenty of rest after your boyfriend knocked me out." Dean scoffed as he elevated his leg on a coffee table. "Some pants would be nice though."

"If I hadn't cut those off, your three day vacation would have been spent recovering from knee surgery." Jack said. "And if I hadn't knocked you out, it might have happened anyway, you left your damned blood all over the place in there from your hands as it was. I didn't know you were claustrophobic." The last was said gently.

"Dude, I'm not claustrophobic. But, beat the hell out of me, throw me in a dark closet with the sole intention of fishing me out for the sole intention of bleeding me dry...well...I get pretty determined to get out." Dean said with a scowl.

"Nope, not claustrophobic." Kaylie said.

"I'm not, Sammy's claustrophobic." Dean said. "Your boy's got a thing about things crushing down on him. Me? I don't fly."

"You were having major anxiety attacks in there. You were hysterical. You wanna call it determined, okay, but you are dangerous whehn you are determined... to yourself mostly."

"Dude, not fair to kick a guy when he's down." Dean said with a frown as Ben came out. He had waited until Mei left.

"Well, it's not my choice of vacation spots, but it will do." Ben said with a shrug. "Suppose I should go get some clothes for us or something."

"Not meaning to kick you when you are down... just... man... I thought you were gonna kill yourself in there. Ya scared the hell out of me." He told Dean. Then looked at Ben "Thanks Ben... for everything. All of you. I'm sorry I got you sucked into all of this."

"We sucked ourselves in." Ben said. "And...I know how Dean and I got here...Kaylie though..."

"I cleaned out my bank account." Kaylie said, glad she still had her face buried in Jack's shirt. Because she was a horrible liar.

SNSNSNSN

Sam stood at the edge of the pier looking out over the water. He wished his brother were with him, not for the first time since he had left him behind in that hospital bed.

Exorcism... that was his gig. Not yet a solo gig, but it would be one day.

Hunting... hunting was a Winchester gig and it reminded him of Dean every time he did it, reminded him that life was gone. That he wasn't part of that world anymore and never would be again, yet at the same time it connected him to it, grounded him. Reminded him of why he was apart from all that he loved.

And it made him angry.

He spoke the words over the cold iron cross, and tossed it into the lake, watching it with strangely cold, tear rimmed eyes.

A water spout formed, and the iron cross was tossed back at Sam's feet. The water, normally so smooth, was starting to roll across the lake, as if it were about to break out into a boil under the moonlit sky. The cross did not belong in the water, so it was not going to stay in the water.

Sam stared out at the water, waiting for what it was going to do. He needed to know what it was that was out there and he figured there would be enough shadow in a lake at night that he didn't have to worry too much.

He hoped...

or did he?

The water slammed against the beach, against nearby trees. Against itself. If water could have an emotion, this lake was obviously angry. Exocise it? This being standing on its shores was obviously a fool, and it did not suffer fools gently as it receded against itself. Opening the beach up once more. It was hungry.

Sam stared calmly at the water as it parted, the faintest smile on his lips, dark eyes darker still as he stared it down, no fear reaching the surface. He ignored the small voice inside, the one that would normally have been gasping out expletives, and urging his long lean form into motion. He shoved that voice aside as though it were nothing but a gnat buzzing at his ear and he breathed. Hyperventilation. Calmly, calculatedly over oxygenating his blood, to stay under longer.

A lifetime ago he would have hunted a way to appease the spirit, put it at peace once more with the world around it. A lifetime ago he would have argued with his brother that it didn't need to be destroyed, it was a part of this place. It was natural.

But that life was gone, and something needed to pay for the hole it left inside of him. For now the water spirit would do.

The water swirled back around Sam, lapping at his skin, as if tasting him. Rising quicker than it should as it pulled Sam under, the cold under currents coming to the surface, overtaking the warmth it could provide. If it wanted to. But it didn't. It continued to swirl around him, wrapping him in tentacles of icy wetness as it seeped into his clothes, his nose, his ears. Battering against his closed eyes and mouth.

Destroy me?

It didn't speak, but Sam could feel what it was communicating.

Destroy me? Arrogance. As old as the earth itself, I have been here.

The part of Sam that wasn't Sam, the primal core of him that bore the imprint of his other father, answered. I have stood at the dawn of creation and I will stand when the earth is ash and the water is boiled from the sea.

The images swirled around him, as the mortal body began to fight for air, held in place by little more than the will power of the mortal soul that simply wanted the killing to stop. Images of war more graphic and bloody than any film Samuel Winchester had ever seen. Sword, spear and wings coated in blood. Creatures more beautiful than the human eye could bear to look upon coated in blood, faces contorted in rage and sorrow.

Above the chaos, above the blood and fire, the lights battled in the heavens, in a blinding aurora, until one bright and shining light hurtled downward, crashing into the earth, shaking it to its very core.

One followed its descent, and stood over his fallen comrade, wings once white, now blood red arching upward as it howled in rage. Its eyes yellow as the morning sun, as it reflected the flames that surrounded them all.

Shards. The water communicated. Shards. Memory, soul, with someone else's shards. Does not impress. Memories of a time gone by. One fell here, descended further. Then there is this. What you call me. Here. Always. Leave.

As you wish. Sam grasped the creature, sorting out the water from the water spirit, in a way that he couldn't really comprehend, and would not have been able to do in that lifetime long ago when he truly was Sam Winchester. That lifetime ago where he would have drowned with his brother screaming his name on the shore. A name that was only half his now.

He grasped the creature firmly, with more than just his hands and melded with the shadows that flitted through the water, emerging once more deep in the woods, scattering the creature across the ground.

Sam sank to the ground and gasped for breath, looking at the wood piled high for a bon fire, and raised both eyebrows as it ignited. "That's... new." He managed to get out and crawled closer to the fire to warm himself. "What ever you are..." He said aloud, Sam said aloud, with no more communication with his primal self than he would have had in that life time long ago. "No. More. Killing."

The water retched, trying to find its way back to the shore, back to the lake. Keening in a high tone that filled the woods, echoing off the trees. Emitting pain as the fire lapped at it, as the heat permeated it. While a pair of yellow eyes watched from the forest, with a sly smile.

SNSNSN

Jack had set Dean up in the down stairs guest room, because he knew there was no way he could make it up the stairs to his apartment with that knee. He had even put in a small air conditioner in the window so that Dean and Ben wouldn't get into their usual thermostat wars.

The trouble was keeping Dean off the damned knee in the first place.

Which was so much easier said than done as Dean hobbled into the kitchen. Jack had gotten him a pair of crutches, and Dean had compromised. He was using one. Besides, he needed his other hand for food and beer, right? So with his hurt leg at an awkward angle, bending at another strange angle to protect his ribs, he looked for the beer. Of course, it was way in the back of the fridge, seeing as Kaylie had done the last shopping, and just shoved 'real' food in front it. Dean wasn't interested in real food. He wanted beer. Maybe a lortab. A bag of chips, then he was headed outside to the wreck he was still working on.

"You are not gonna go out there and stand on that leg to fix a car that no one is driving. " Jack said with a frustrated tone worthy of their father. "Don't you have any hobbies that don't require aggravating your injuries AND me at the same time?"

Dean gave him an amused look at that, holding the bag of chips in his mouth and the beer in his free hand as he managed to get to the table, the lone crutch falling with a clatter as Dean propped his leg up on another chair. "Dude, you got the car to keep me out of trouble, remember?" He reminded his brother. "Not my fault you're so easily aggravated."

"Yeah well anything that keeps you standing until that knee is better is keeping you in trouble." Jack pointed out as he went to the fridge and got the fixings for two sandwiches. Roast beef and swiss, no veggies, nuked to melt the cheese. And he didn't scrimp on the meat and cheese, then sat one down in front of his brother and took the other with him to the other side of the table.

"Dude, the knee is better." Dean protested. Because it didn't hurt as much to put weight on it. He left that part out, because then Jack would get started on him putting weight on it in the first place. "Besides, I can do plenty on a car flat on my back." Then he laughed. "That came out wrong, but you know what I mean."

"It's still swollen, it's not better." Jack felt more than a little guilt over all the injuries his brother came away with from Hong Kong. Jack felt guilty over a lot of things that there was nothing he could do to fix. He still walked on egg shells around Kaylie, went out of his way where Ben was concerned to be the perfect 'son'.

"Dude, you gotta stop." Dean said between bites of his sandwich. "The only thing you have to blame yourself for is the knot on the back of my head. And that's gone anyway. Everything else, not your fault. The whole martyr routine, its kinda annoying at times."

Jack just gave Dean a look that said he was full of shit. "I'm not a martyr." He said. "And I'm not acting like one." He was just trying to make things right again. Ben had crossed lines he hadn't crossed since meeting Abby. Kaylie had been kidnapped, terrorized (by him) hurt (by him) and Dean had been thrust into hell. All because of him.

"Uh huh." Dean said, unconvinced. "So, still sending flowers to Kaylie's work?" He asked with a grin. He knew Kaylie was getting a delivered bouquet with every shift she worked. "Guess I should be glad you're not sending me flowers."

"Yeah well... the first time I hit you, you told me to." He said with a laugh. "And then knocked my ass out. No guilt... the second time I hit you, you were hurting yourself so it was to protect you. You don't warrant flowers. You get free medical care instead."

"Don't suppose I can sign myself out AMA?" Dean joked as he drank his beer. "I mean, I've got a nice record of doing that, you know." After being electrocuted, after the car accident, after his little run in with Meg...

"Nope. It's the down side of living with your doctor... or EMT in this case." Jack pointed out. "And no, moving back up over the garage doesn't count as moving out, you would just bang up your knee on those stairs anyway and then you would have to have a real doctor."

Dean gave an aggravated sigh. "Dude, stop the blame trip. Really, I'm okay. Ben's okay. Kaylie's okay. You're okay. We're all okay." He said.

"No thanks to my stupid ass." Jack said shaking his head. "And sometimes okay isn't good enough." At least not as far as a guilty conscience went. "I raise my voice and she gets that look in her eyes. And I did that. Me... no one else but me."

"Okay, not to point anything out or anything, but maybe she can't move past it because you can't." Dean said as he opened the bag of chips. "Dude, you send her flowers non stop. Then there are the presents and all that. She's not stupid, she knows you're trying to make up for it. But everytime you do, you're just bringing it back up. Let me ask you something. Do you want to live without her?"

"No." Jack didn't even have to think about that one. He had missed Ben and Dean while he had been in Hong Kong, but being with out Kaylie had been its own torture.

"Well, if you don't stop, you're going to." Dean said. "So what you do is take her out to a nice dinner tonight, go to a movie, apologize one more time and promise to stop filling the bar and grill up with flowers. Got it?" Not to mention his ingenious plan would get Jack out of the house for the night.

Jack laughed. "And this sage advice comes from a man with how many successful relationships?" He asked, even though he knew Dean was probably right, and if nothing else... it couldn't hurt.

"Absolutely none. Obviously." Dean said with a laugh. "The reason being I'm not a big communicator. You are. All touchy feely...I don't know, I think I'm a genetic misfire or something." He said, since Sam was also touchy feely at times.

If Jack had known more of how his brothers were raised, he would understand why Dean was reluctant to share and Sam was all over sharing and caring time. But he didn't really know that Dean had no one to comfort and console him through the little every day hurts, so he learned to deal with them on his own, and keep them to himself. Where as Sam had Dean who was very much a nurturer. Just as Ben was. Pretty funny when you thought about it. The two toughest men he knew were the biggest nurturers he knew.

"I'll call and see if she is willing to go out with me. " He said.

"See? Now that's not so hard, is it?" Dean said with a laugh.

"What have you talked him into this time?" Ben said around his cigarette as he came in, sorting through the mail.

"Why am I always the one corrupting him?"

"Because you usually are." Ben said.

"Says the guy who owns a strip club." Dean scoffed. "I was helpful, thank you very much."

"He says I need to stop sending Kaylie flowers and presents and just take her out to dinner."

"Okay, he was helpful." Ben said with a surprised look. "He's got a point. It's dinner or jewelry at this point. Who would have thought the man whore would get an answer right."

"I hate that term." Dean said, making a face.

"Well, there's himbo, he-ho, the classic gigalo, player, casanova..."

"Fine, man whore it is." Dean said. "So should we let him pick the restaurant?"

"Of course I am picking a restaurant. And it's going to be dinner. If I get her jewelry, there is only one thing that wouldn't just be a continuation of the whole gifting thing, and I can't give her that until I have a steady job and can support her on my own." Ben was still at odds with this whole not working thing, granted he was only a few classes away from OJT. But he was still without a job, and spending his savings on flowers.

"Having a job has nothing to do with it." Ben said as he grabbed his coat and went through the pockets. "Supporting her, you're on your own, but, here." Ben said and handed him a jewelry box. "For when the time is right. That ring was awesome luck for me for sixty two years." Abby had been cremated, so he had the ring he had given her. Which he had picked up during the Depression, when the formerly rich had been selling their tiaras and diamonds for literally pennies.

"My god, this is beautiful, Ben." Jack said looking at the ring in awe, his eyes misting up. "I remember this... " It was one of those things you remember about the elderly, and Abby had been elderly when Jack knew her. The jewelry they always wore, and their smell. Abby always smelled of lilacs, and she always wore this ring. He remembered her hands, such gentle hands, from when he had been hurt so badly. "Thank you." He said and set the ring down for Dean to see and went to pull Ben into a hug.

Dean took the box and looked at it. Not knowing squat about rings, but he was supposed to look at it so he did. It was an old ring, even he could tell it, with detail on the band, and a good sized rock in the setting. "Nice." He said with a nod. His free foot tapping a bit. Great. Chick flick moment between two grown men. Wonderful. And him on crutches.

"You're welcome." Ben said, hugging the young man he considered his son back. "Should stay in the family an yway, right? Works out, she and Kaylie have the same size, so I got it cleaned."

"She'll cry when she sees it." Jack said and this made him grin. "Of course her father might shoot me and make all this pointless, hence the hoping for the steady job and all before asking her officially." That wasn't all. Jack was old fashioned. Sure she was going to college and was going to have a career, but he wanted to be ABLE to support her on his own. Needing to wasn't the point.

"That's the point, they're supposed to cry." Ben said with a chuckle.

"So, I'm gonna, you know, go see about the car." Dean said, getting up. He cleared his throat a bit as he picked his crutch off the floor and carefully balanced on it. "So, yeah, I'll be, you know, outside."

"The hell you are. Get off of that knee before I have to knock you out... again." Jack said mostly teasing. Mostly. "You keep that up and you will never be able to get back up into your air conditioned 68 degree apartment. You will be stuck in 102 land forever."

"Come on, Jack. I'm bored." Dean complained. And a bored Dean was a dangerous Dean. But he'd sat around the hotel room. Now he was sitting around the house. There wasn't anything good on TV, and he was beyond restless.

"Have you ever investigated the video game collection I have in there? Hello... I worked in a game store for 5 years. You can find something to do that doesn't involve screwing yourself over."

"Or next time I can hit him." Ben volunteered. "He'll be in a coma, he won't move, he won't whine..."

"I'm not whining." Dean said, frustrated. This reminded him of house arrest. Except without the motel bed.

Jack laughed "Whining ...bitching... its all one, bro."

SNSNSN

Sam finished packing his bags. "So... ready to go back to work?" He asked the priest. "We don't have to if you still want the down time."

"I am fine." Father Pavel assured Sam. "I'm not the one who beat the holy hell out of a water spirit. I just read my books." He said with a chuckle. But it was a good sign, one that Sam was recovered from his injuries sufficiently. "There is never any rest for the weary besides."

"I'm alright. I was just a little water logged is all." He told the priest with a grin. He hadn't shared his vision with him, or the weird 'memories that weren't his memories' moment. He wanted to write it off to oxygen deprivation. Didn't want to think about the fact that his demonic father was perhaps Lucifer's right hand man.

"But never again do I want to hear you complain that your older brother does not spend enough time in his sick bed." Pavel said with a laugh. "How he doesn't allow himself to recover fully before returning to his work. Because now, if you do, all I will hear is pot, kettle, and black."

"Hey! I waited until they officially released me from the hospital. That's more than Dean does." He said with a laugh "And I fished for a couple days after that."

"Next time I shall take you fly fishing if that's not enough activity for you." Father Pavel said as they started bringing everything to the car. "One of my comrades is training for a triathalon if you still need to expell energy. Ah, to be young."

"Nah, I'm good. Nice vacation, a good old fashioned hunt.. I'm rested. Really." And he was. Strangely enough. Even with his world still turned upside down, Sam felt very much rested after his encounter with the water spirit. As though something had... unclenched. Let go a little.

"You do look rested." Father Pavel agreed as he packed the trunk. He was surprisingly strong for his advanced age and withered frame, and did not accept help if he didn't need it. The difference between himself and a lot of other men was that he knew when to ask for help.

"So how backlogged are we?" He asked putting his things in and giving one last glance around him at the lake and the surrounding woods.

"Not so much." Father Pavel said. "Just a few things to attend to right away. Yet another prison, where a man who slaughtered his family, his neighbors, and their neighbors is awaiting our evaluation. He is on death row, but his mother does not want him to die possessed."

Sam nodded, horrified at the thought of someone dying for something they didn't do. "He won't die of it if he is possessed." He pointed out. "The host would be abandoned by the demon... if it didn't want to continue the charade. Will the prison allow us to perform an exorcism there?"

"Yes, I've made arrangements. I'm more concerned about the possessor jumping ship for another during the execution." Father Pavel said. "And from the case file I've read, two of the murders were committed pre possession. So this is not an entirely innocent man we are dealing with, but he should still be offered the Lord's forgiveness at the gates. So that's what we shall do, give him that chance."

Sam nodded. Transfer at execution would be a problem he knew though that there was no way to be sure of the moment of possession. It all depended on how sneaky the bastard was that was doing the hitchhiking. "Sounds good. I'll break out the Sean Talbot ID that I was using for this. Don't really want to go through a repeat of the trial Dean had. "

"That would not be a good idea." Father Pavel agreed. "It would garner the same coverage as your brother's trial after all. So, Sean Talbot it is. We just have to cast the demon out before they execute him." Father Pavel was not a supporter of the death penalty, but he couldn't change the law. Technically he wasn't even an American citizen.

"Then again come lights out I could just slide out." He said with a shrug. Sam tried not to think about things such as the ethics of the death penalty. Because then he would have to put his own ethics into question. He did kill things on a regular basis. Things that he and Dean had discovered didn't really need to die just by virtue of their existence.

They chatted about far more pleasant things than the ins and outs of capital punishment as they drove toward the prison and were shown by the warden into the death row wing. Where there was another prisoner who recognized Sam for who he really was.

"You!" Gordon shouted. "I know you! Dammit, you should be dead. Your brother should have let me off you, demon scum."

"I'm sorry." Sam said smiling sweetly. "You have me confused with someone else." He had enjoyed watching Dean's lawyer turn Gordon into a raving lunatic on the stand. The sad thing was that he had been right, except about Dean. But that didn't make him any less of a raving lunatic.

"It's him!" Gordon shouted. Working himself into a fit, because he couldn't get out of the cell and take care of this himself. "He's going to kill us all. He should have been drowned at birth."

The guard slammed his nightstick against the door. "That's enough, Walker. Or do you want the restraints again?" He looked at the priest and his lay assistant. "Sorry. Some of these guys..."

"It's alright." Sam said, still using his gentle, friendly tone. "I understand. I don't envy you your job at all."

"Yeah, well, I'm not going into the cell of a possessed mass murderer, so right now, I like my job." The guard said, touching the small cross he wore around his neck briefly. Father Pavel nodded.

"It's quite alright." He said. "We're trained for this, you are not. I would be extremely useless in a prison riot after all. The good Lord gives us all jobs."

Sam remained quiet and let the guard lead the way sparing a smile for Gordon as they walked away. It was quite satisfying to know that he was responsible for the son of a bitch being there in the first place.

"Leave us." Father Pavel said when they reached the cell. It was at the end of a long hall, no one was by this particular prisoner. Solid metal and concrete, the only contact with the outside was through a small barred window at the top of the door, and a narrow slot for food trays. The guard nodded and unlocked the door, locking it again when they were inside with a resounding clang. Father Pavel unpacked his tools of the trade. The holy water, the incence, the Bible.

"I'm not Catholic, padre. No need for last rites. Besides, not biting it for another couple of weeks." The man said looking at both of them with cold eyes, eying Sam for a moment.

"Do not play at being stupid, demon." Father Pavel said with authority. "You know I am not here to give the host his last rites. That time will come. But I am here for an entirely different reason. We shall begin." He said to Sam with a nod and started the opening prayers.

SNSNSN

Jack rolled his eyes. Dean had been insufferable since getting the brace off of his knee. It was like letting Tigger loose in their home. Now he wanted him outside. "I'm coming, okay? Hang on." He laughed and kissed Kaylie on the nose. "Be right back." He said.

"Dude, you're slow." Dean said. "No wonder you had to sucker punch me. Come on." He was nearly bouncing on the balls of his feet as he waited for his brother. "Jack, dude, when I said I have something to show you, I meant I had something to show you now."

"Why, is it running away?" He asked as he headed for the front door. "And I sucker punched you cause man... you can't afford another break in that nose."

"Dude, my nose is fine." Dean said. "Come on." He said as he passed Jack and led him over to the tarp covered wreck and tossed him a set of keys. "I'm really sick of fixing Sophie, so I decided not to. So, there."

"What?" Jack asked. "You mean?" He indicated the tarp, and peeled it back, dark eyes lighting up as he looked at the ancient Impala. "Are you serious?"

"I mean while you were completely neglectful of your Deansitting duties, you know with sleep, girlfriend and class, I finished it." Dean said with a chuckle. "Inspected, registered, the whole nine. Forged your name and all, but figured you wouldn't mind. Besides, I already got a car, which is still cooler than yours."

"Yeah well that remains to be seen." He said as he went over to the driver's side. "Well... get in." He told his brother, figuring that next time he had to Deansit, he would tie him to a chair when he had to go and do things like.. .oh .. .live his life.

Dean laughed and got into the passenger's side. "Oh come on, dude. You're not seriously miffed that I got sick of sitting around. I mean, it's not like I got into any trouble, and the knee is fine. Right back to normal actually."

"No. Just ... don't let it happen again." He said with a grin as he started the car, listening to her rumble. "Better yet... don't get into a place to NEED to be Deansat and it will all be good."

Dean laughed. "Yeah, sure bro." Like he ever PLANNED on getting hurt on anything he did, right? "Okay, let's take her for a drive. Handles completely different than Sophie, I'm talking a nice strong eight cylinder engine under there."

"Alright then." He said and pulled out of the driveway. Fortunately he had driven the younger Impala enough not to miss the power steering, and soon they were out on the back roads, where all the really good curves were.

Dean even impressed himself with how well the car handled the Texas backroads, and even stopped on a dime for a stray cow that wandered off the pasture. "I figured this will get me out of the doghouse." He said with a grin.

"Yeah, it's a good start anyway." Jack teased as they headed back to town. "I love the car man. Thank you."

"You're welcome." Dean said. "Besides, I might need some free advertising anyway." He had to do something with the money. "Shit, dude, can you believe I have a bank account?" The government demanded it, some place to deposit the hush money.

"Wow... it just floors me the things that I take for granted." He said. "Bank accounts, a home, steady job." He shook his head. "It's hard sometimes to understand how you managed to exist so far outside society... yet managed to walk through it like you fit in. No offense. I don't mean it in a bad way."

"Dude, your brother is a major league conman, like it or not." Dean said with a laugh. "Nah, this whole bank account, job, home thing...that was Sammy's dream. Course, he's dead set against it now. Me? I figured I'd just keep driving until finally I fell asleep at the wheel. And you know the worst thing about the bank account? Now any geek with a computer can find out how much money I have. That sucks!"

"Dreams change. People change. Life doesn't follow a set path no matter how much we want it to. Who knows what any of us will have or be tomorrow?"

Dean laughed. "As long as I don't wake up female or something tomorrow, I'm good." He said. "So you like the car? I mean really. It's a far cry from Sophie."

"I love the car." Jack said honestly. "Thank you. Not that I am getting rid of Sophie. But I love this car." He now owned a classic car... car show quality classic car. This wasn't something you drove to the grocery store.

"Oh god, you're not going to be one of those weenies who brushes off a car like this once or twice a year to keep the engine going, are you?" Dean said, dispairingly. "This car is meant to be driven, often. Hard. Not hidden under a tarp so the sun doesn't fade the paint. That's an insult."

"I'm gonna take it out, I promise. Trust me... she will be driven. Just...wow... do you know how likely this car is to be stolen if I park her at work?"

"Actually not likely at all." Dean said. "It's distinctive. Rare model and build, stand out color...car thieves tend to go for something that blends, even when they go high end." Then he laughed. "Don't ask how I know that."

"I have a feeling I already know." He said shaking his head. "Okay, but if she is stolen you know I am going to make you find another one for me."

"That's fine." Dean said. "Just would hate to see her languish away in a garage. She loves the open road." He also knew car thieves stole cars for three reasons: escape, fencing, and an actual ride. It didn't have power steering, and unless you knew how to drive it, it could be unwieldy. Also not good for a chop shop because of its age. And actual ride? Way too distinctive. Would be picked up in a minute.

"Oh she will see the open road. This weekend in fact, if I can get Kaylie to take the weekend off. I could see a road trip in my future."

"Now that sounds like a plan. I'll talk to her supervisor. She's got a crush on me you know." Dean said with a wink. "I tell ya, classic cars are an addiction. Drive this long enough, you won't want to drive anything else."

"Ben was right... you are trying to corrupt me." He teased as he pulled into the driveway.

"Hell yeah. That's a big brother's job you know." Dean said with a chuckle. "So I'll chat up Kaylie's supervisor, you make a plan for a road trip."

"Works for me, thanks." Jack said as he parked and turned off the car. "Poor Sophie. She'll never forgive you. Although this is Sophie mark 2. I had good luck with cars and that name... even though it didn't work so well for the dog."

"Whatever floats your boat." Dean said with a chuckle. "Come on, let's get back inside before Kaylie swears I kidnapped you." The worry in that couple went both ways. If she was five minutes late, Jack swore she'd been kidnapped. If he didn't call when he promised to, Kaylie swore he was across the world.

SNSNSN

Dean had tried to take time off to just get settled after the trial. That had been an exhausting experience to say the least and he very nearly cried, for real, when the foreperson said 'not guilty.' But then he had to make an emergency visit to Hong Kong, which left him with a string of injuries to overcome. Under his baby brother's overly watchful eye, he'd managed to recuperate in a fairly uneventful manner, and finish the 58 Impala.

But...he was a hunter. And he'd keep picking up on things in the news, in papers, that would itch at him.

So, finally, when things had calmed down (though Ben claimed his murder trial was excellent for business, and could he do it again?), he started repacking the Impala. Restocking on what he needed, what he thought he'd need. Researching different legends as he shoved a few changes of clothes into a bag and threw it into the back seat.

"You're coming back after this hunt...right?" Jack asked as he stepped off of the front steps of his home...his childhood home, much as the Impala was strangely Dean's childhood home. He could understand wanting to be rid of Corpus Christi after having experienced her jail for so long, and probably been in more fear for his life there than he had ever been anywhere else.

"Oh yeah." Dean said. "This is the only place where I don't get asked for autographs." That happened when he drove to San Antonio for car parts. It had been...weird...to say the least. "Besides, who else is going to patch me up? Just going to Kansas to investigate a supposed portal to hell, then I'll come back. I just...I gotta do something." Hunting was what he did.

"Oh... just a... portal to hell. Nice." Jack said. "Okay... got plenty of cash to see you through? If not, just call home and you can give Sophie a tune up when you get back or something. So what are you going to do if you find a portal to hell?"

"Yes, Mom, I have enough cash. Clean underwear too. And no swimming directly after eating, got it." Dean said with a grin. "Well, what else do you do when you find a portal to hell? You close the damn thing before someone falls in."

"Just that easily... close it up with a shovel... have to be an awfully deep hole. Better rent a caterpiller for that one." He said shaking his head. "Or is it more ritualistic than that?"

"Oh a lot more." Dean said as he opened another bag. "Candles. Graveyard dirt from a martyr or something like that. Incense, ritual in some weird ass language, it should keep things under wraps for a bit. Cell reception sucks in a hot spot like that, so I'll call when I'm done. Relax, this is a piece of cake."

"Nice, you know those words don't make me feel comfy and relaxed about this" Jack said with a laugh. "Keep your head down. Can't afford you to get arrested for wacky ritual shit on private property. It would be ugly and after this last court session, they would give you the death penalty for jay walking."

"The only reason they caught me last time was because I was unconscious." Dean pointed out. "Which means as long as I stay conscious, I'm good. So I promise, no sleeping on the job. I'll be back in a couple of days." He said with a laugh as he got into the Impala and headed toward Kansas.

He felt better, some of that weight was gone. Sure, no sign of Sam, and he'd been looking for some sign, but he was all right. He'd find his brother, he always did after all. Right now, he could barrel down the highway and not have to worry about the trooper looking at him wrong. Liberating really, and made the drive go faster since he could take the highways most of the way.

Then he got a room in a town over, paid cash, and waited until it was dark before heading back out to the cemetary he'd heard about, cutting his lights as he neared it and parked his car under an overhang of branches.

"Okay, let's do this." He said, sawed off rifle of rock salt over his shouler, and a bag full of ritual tools in his other hand.

Chavi was tired. She had been hitchhiking for several days how, getting as far away from her family as possible. Her father was insufferable, so very old world, with his demands and his lack of understanding. She was 25 years of age and running away from home. It was frustrating and humiliating. Humiliating in that it took her this long to find the courage to live her own life.

She entered the old cemetary and walked through it with no fear. She knew of the things that walked the night, what Rom didn't? But she didn't fear it. She took her precautions and felt secure. And in general there was less danger in a cemetary at night than there was on a busy city street. So it was here that she chose to make her bed for the night. Now it was just a matter of finding the right location.

Dean was by where his readings said he should be. He heard a noise and quickly snuffed the candle he was setting up. Because this place was patrolled by the police, and it really wouldn't look good if he were arrested for trespassing now. Since it was privately owned and all.

He set himself low on the ground, in case it was the cops, he wouldn't be spotted. But dammit, he just wanted to close a gateway to hell then go get a beer. Was that really too much to ask? He got himself low in the high grass between two widely spaced trees, laying on his stomach.

Chavi wandered through the tall grass. Appreciating the cover it could give her. If she set up her bedroll there she wouldn't be discovered by anyone that was simply walking by. She scanned the ground in the distance, looking for something that looked like it might be level when she tripped over what she thought was a log or an over turned headstone, and fell to the ground with an oomph.

"Ow." Dean said as he grabbed his flashlight and shone it on the girl's face. Resisting the usual urge to go for his gun, what with that sparkly clean criminal record of his and all. Flicked the flashlight about, no obvious weapons, and sighed as he lowered it so not as to blind her. "You should really get out of here." He said as he looked up at the moon. Nearly time. "I mean it, go back home."

Chavi scowled at the man. "I am staying here tonight. You don't like it you can move on." She said with a false bravado. She couldn't see him clearly in the dark, particularly after the light shone in her face but she rolled away from him and sat up, rubbing at her eyes until they cleared.

"No...you're not." Dean said. "I was here first. Remember, you tripped over me." Even if he didn't have a bed roll, or anything other than supplies for the ritual. Which he really had to begin if this was all true. "So you really need to go. Now."

"Why? What are you doing here that you need me to not see?" She asked, feeling particularly stubborn. She was tired and she was tired of being ordered about by some man. "I am not going to walk to the other side of town simply because you have some clandestined meeting planned. If you let me get settled down into sleep I won't see anyway."

"Okay, fine." Dean said. She was cute, but maybe she'd leave if she thought he was some weird freak of nature. "I'm going to sit here as a gateway to hell opens. Then I'm going to close it. I'm going to perform a ritual under the moonlight in the middle of a freaking cemetary and it's really, really, dangerous. Happy now? Think you can sleep through that?"

Chavi tilted her head to the left, tight waves of hair falling in her face. "A gateway to hell." She said with a contemplative frown. "Are you mad? That isn't something you should be taking on alone. If you fail, you open it wider, letting things out that should never see the light of day. " She shook her head "Gadje... " she muttered. "Do you not know that you should not scratch where it does not itch? "

He looked at her, surprised for a moment, then went back to setting up. "Yeah, well, fourteen missing teenagers in ten years...I'd say it's itching and needs one hell of a scratch." He said. "And I know what I'm doing. So, really, lady, you should go."

"To where?" She asked him. "If you succeed, it will be little more than a light show. If you fail, there is no where that I could run to quickly enough even if I started now." She said pragmatically. Her grandmother taught her of things that most gadje would scoff at and consider superstition. She rose and shrugged off her back pack, wiping her hands on her pants legs. "So... I may as well take an active part in my survival or destruction. What ritual are you using?"

He barely refrained from growling as he handed her a candle and his extra lighter. "Ommadawn." He said. "And we've got about five minutes to set up." He said, looking at the sky again, as the clouds rolled in over what had previously been a clear night. "God, I cannot believe I'm doing this." He said as he plotted out where the candles should be. But time was of the essence. "I don't know where they went to. You ask me, this isn't a true portal to hell. More like an inter-realm passageway. Probably doesn't drop off at the same place twice. Either way, I'm closing it down." Because it had become such a local legend, especially after the old church mysteriously collapsed, visitors were starting to swarm on the usual nights.

"Makes sense." She said as she looked over the ritual and aided in the set up with a practiced hand. She had been intended to take her grandmother's place when the old woman deigned to die. One of the many reasons not to stay with her people. Yet here she was doing exactly what she had been trained to do because it needed to be done. So much for being in charge of one's own destiny.

Dean set up in silence, moving along the old ruins in accordance with the ritual. Then stood back. "All right, show time." Dean said. It wasn't anything dramatic. One probably wouldn't notice anything if they weren't waiting for it. But the night birds went quiet, even the slight noise from the town just stopped as the wind stopped, blowing leaves held as if in suspension for a split second as he took the rest of the set up and threw it into the circle, muttering a few words.

The 'light show' as she called it was a beam of pure white light, with blue light wrapped around it like a coil, knocking them both off their feet. Then...nothing. Birds chirped, wind blew, and the town came alive again.

Chavi stood up and once more brushed off her jeans and nodded in the direction of where the gateway had once been. "That went smoothly." She said as she started to gather the ritual supplies, wanting nothing left behind for those that didn't know to find. "Most don't believe in such things. How is it you do?"

"Of course it went smoothly." Dean said as he got up and started repacking the candles. "I've been doing shit like this since I was a kid. But to my knowledge there wasn't a Roma community anywhere around here." The word gadje tipped him off to that.

"There isn't... which is why I am here." She said bluntly. "I am wanting to explore my options... my father doesn't believe in options. So here I am." She shrugged. She liked this man strangely enough. Normally she wasn't fond of the gadje men she encountered. Then again usually they looked at her as though she were a superstitious, dirty thief. Most of them knew nothing and preferred the media to actuality.

"Exploring your options includes spending a night with a strange man in a freaky graveyard because you're too stubborn?" Dean said with chuckle. "Come on, let's go get a beer. Don't give me that look, you know that little laser show had to attract the cops."

"Alright. But you can bring me back here afterwards. I doubt there will be as comfortable a place to sleep closer in to town." She said as she picked up her backpack. She thought a beer would be a nice way to end the night. She might have enough to pick up dinner that night too. Would have to find a way to get more money in the next town. But it wouldn't be too hard.

"By the way, I'm Dean." He said, holding his hand out to her as he slung his bag over his other shoulder and started walking toward his car. "So you do this stuff a lot?" He asked. Roma might know more than the average population, didn't mean they practiced it.

She looked at him a moment then took his hand. "Chavi." She said. "I learned from my grandmother. When it needs done, I do it. But things don't need to be done as often as some would think."

"And they need doing a lot more than most others think." Dean countered as they reached the Impala. He popped the trunk and then the false trunk to put the bag in there. "Believe me, I've criss crossed this country enough."

Chavi raised an eye looking at the hidden arsenal. "This isn't just something you do when you need to... you go looking for it, don't you?" She asked, not sure what she thought of that, at all.

He gave her a grin. "Come on, let's get that beer." He said as he closed the trunk and got into the car. When she was in, he pulled out, turned his lights on and headed into town to the nearest bar. "So, is anyone going to report you missing?"

"No. Papa will either pretend I don't exist or go through the other Roma to try and locate me. He won't go to the police or anything." She figured it was more than likely she would be disowned than anything else, and right then, she didn't care.

"Eh, families." He said as he pulled into a parking lot. "My brother, now this is funny, rebelled by running off to Stanford." He laughed. "Families are screwed up by definition. I could tell you stories that would straighten your hair. So why'd you run off?"

"My father was too controlling. I was lucky and went to public school." It happened from time to time, that the Roma would mingle with the gadje population out of necessity. "And I got ideas in my head that he didn't appreciate. For instance that in my mid 20s I don't have to be married and it's alright for me to make my own choices without him."

"Well, good for you." Dean said as he ordered a couple of beers and handed her one of the bottles. "That had to take guts." He understood Sam a bit more. "Then...here's to choices."

"To choices." She said with a smile, and took a drink. "So what started you on this path you are on? Not everyone is cut out for a nomadic life. Especially not one where you are in danger more often than not. "

"Huh. That's true, isn't it? I don't know, my dad started us out on this, I think I was about five," when John had all the information and decided to fight back, "we just started traveling the country. You're right, I go looking for it. I'd rather catch them before they catch me, before they mess with any more families."

"That's a great deal of responsibility to put on your own shoulders. It's pretty impressive, actually." She grinned at him. "For a gadje." She teased.

"Gee, thanks." Dean said with a laugh. "So if I had no idea what I was doing back there, what were you going to do? Tackle me?"

"I don't know." She said honestly. "But I do know that if you had screwed up back there, I couldn't have gotten far enough away to avoid the coming hordes. I probably would have tried to do the ritual correctly behind you so that there was at least a chance at it being done right. Not that either of us has ever closed a gate before." She laughed. "Could have been an interesting cascade of failure."

"Nah, we were too close. We would have been killed instantly. So see, absolutely no guilt. Had we messed up, we wouldn't have lived long enough to feel guitly. Talk about pressure, you know, I think I'll leave the next gate to someone else. I'm on vacation."

"This is what you consider a vacation?" Chavi asked with a grin. "What is it you do for work?" The waitress brought over the food she had ordered and she thanked her for it. " I mean if escaping to Kansas... and doing what you were doing is a vacation, I don't know ... maybe it's time to change something in your normal every day life."

Dean laughed. "Sweetheart, if you only knew." Get off a murder charge, go from the ICU to a prison cell, yeah, he needed to change something. But hey, maybe now he had the chance. "Besides, I was born in Kansas. Nothing wrong with Kansas. In fact, I was born about ten miles away from here, strangely enough." Maybe Dad was right about that mystical fault line thing.

"I suppose there are worse places in the world. So long as you are not hitch hiking. I swear the road I came along today was nothing but stock yards. A good 50 mile stretch of stock yards and alfalfa to feed the cattle on. I thought for certain I had died and gone to hell."

"It's not that bad." Dean said with a laugh. "I live in Texas now, haven't actually lived in Kansas since I was four...so if they send other Roma to come fetch you...am I going to have to fight someone? Cause I'm gonna need more beer for that."

"No, I doubt anyone is going to find me while we are sitting here. If my brother were to find us... you might have to fight him. My father would just curse you and my mother would cry because obviously if I am sitting here with you over a dinner table... we must be involved and her little heart will be broken because you are not Rom."

Dean laughed. "Now there's a snap judgment. How does she know I'm not Romany? Just because of how I look? That's obviously not fair. Especially when I know pretty much for fact that within the next ten years, there's going to be a blonde haired, green eyed child running around with the last name of Hsiao." Dean said. "I could so be Romany."

"No you couldn't." She said with a laugh. "And it isn't the appearance that is the give away." Chavi thought it was one of his more endearing qualities... not being Roma. That and his smile. "So how is it there will be blond haired green eyed children of chinese descent?"

"My brother. Different mothers. He has his mom's last name, and she's half Chinese on her father's side." Dean said. "The girlfriend is your normal blonde haired, green eyed looks like she should be a cheerleader Texas girl. So eventually they'll get married, I'm sure, and my one quarter Chinese brother will have one eighth Chinese kids with the Chinese last name. Should throw some people for a loop I think. So you're sitting with me letting me buy you beer because I'm NOT Romany. Isn't that reverse discrimination?"

Chavi laughed again. "I am sitting here letting you buy me a beer because I have a weakness for green eyes. To me they are exotic." She said. "The not being Romany... means I won't get a lecture on how I should be an obedient and loyal daughter and forget what I learned going to school with the gadje."

"Me? Give someone a lecture on being good and obedient to some random cultural law?" That made Dean laugh. Loyalty and obedience to his father was one thing. To mainstream culture (which he supposedly belonged to) was quite another. "Believe me, I'm the last to give any sort of lecture on that. So are you headed anywhere or just away?"

"Just away." She admitted. "Haven't found anywhere I wanted to put down roots just yet. Still sorting all of that out in my head really. Where to stay, what to do when I get there. " She shrugged.

Roots. He'd never thought about roots. Never really thought he had any. If he had to be a plant, he figured he'd be a tumbleweed. Or his roots were planted firmly in the Impala. Or were they? Did he have roots in Texas? He was headed back there when he was done after all. Did that count as roots?

"Well, you can't sleep in a cemetary." Dean said. "Cops will be all over that place, especially given its reputation for Satanic rituals."

She gave him a wary look. Things like that were usually followed by how they had a bed she could use. She didn't think he was that sort but one never knew with strangers. He was attractive enough that it was a pleasant fantasy, but she wasn't sure she was ready for the reality of that. "Do you have other ideas?" She asked.

He gave her a boyish grin at that one. "Of course I have ideas. Just most of them you'd smack me silly for." He said. "Just telling you that you can't sleep in the cemetary is all. Man, and I thought I was paranoid."

"Try being female and hitch hiking." She said as she took a drink of her beer. "It's an exercise in paranoia and false bravado." She laughed a little. "I'll find some place else. You are probably right about the cemetary."

"No, I know I'm right about the cemetary. Believe me, I have plenty of experience in avoiding cops and other so called sources of law authority." Dean said. "Luckily, I'm male and I don't hitch hike. Though I did once drive a mini van."

She winced at that. "I would rather hitch hike than drive a mini van. I'm sorry. You must have been... under duress." She teased... mostly. Mini vans were the height of banality. Right up there with fast food jingles and cheap chocolate.

"Oh complete duress." Dean said. "My car was completely totaled. As in I had to rebuild her from the rims up. And we had a job, and a friend of mine only had a mini van to loan us..." He shuddered. "We ditched it as soon as we could, believe me. Can't exactly hitchhike saying, hey can you take us to the carnival where there's this homicidal clown running about? Oh, and can you now take us to this perfect stranger's house because we believe the clown is there now? No, you can't see the clown, but it'll kill you anyway. Never goes over well."

She laughed. "And this is what comes of getting involved." She told him. Not that she didn't do so on occasion herself but not usually on such a large scale. "Life usually provides enough little evils to banish that I never would think to go out and look for the larger ones... especially when your grandmother is the matriarch."

"Guess that's what happens when you take all female influence out of a family." He said with a laugh. "My mom...died...when I was four. Then it was just me, my dad and my brother. Could kinda count Sam in on that whole feminine influence, but not really. You know, completely amazing. If you play into stereotypes. You're the gypsy, you're supposed to be the nomadic scammer. I'm the 'gadje,' I should have a nice 9-5 job, settled house, and the whole so called traditional extended family."

"And here you are utterly nomadic and I'm looking to put down roots somewhere." She laughed a little. "Stereo types never really work, you know. Oh, if you look over the whole of a culture you could put together say the stereotypical American as a concept, but not when you look at the individuals. Not one single person would fit the mold. Not completely."

"I'm not utterly nomadic. I live above my brother's foster father's garage...god I really need a place of my own." He said with a laugh. "And with that comes a job that actually pays...is it really necessary to grow up before you're thirty?" He said with a laugh. "Nah, the stereotypical American male would be getting you drunk, laying on all sorts of lines you've heard a million times before, and then take your drunk ass back to his motel room."

"It's good that you aren't the stereotypical american male, because I could probably drink you under the table. But then... isn't it the stereo type that I would then rip you off and leave you to sleep it off?" She shook her head. "Stereo types are amusing and yes, you really should grow up at some point, although there is growing up... and then there is growing old. No need to do the latter, ever."

He had to laugh. "Outdrink me? You obviously don't know who you're talking to." Dean said. "Outdrink me. Maybe in your dreams, or if you slip me something. And it had better be something strong on top of that." He finished his food, as she finished hers. "Come on, they're going to kick us out of here now."

Chavi laughed softly. Now why was it that everyone thought they could out do the tiny little Romany girl? Oh well, it worked to her advantage more times than not, why look a gift horse in the mouth. She let Dean lead the way out and then looked up at him. She liked this one. Even if he was arrogant and over confident. She liked the gentleness in his tone, although the sadness behind the smile made her wonder. But you didn't ask someone such things your first meeting. It was invasive.

"Thank you for an enjoyable dinner, and an exciting evening, " She said, dark eyes twinkling merrily. "Who knew you would have a women tripping over you on this vacation of yours?"

"You're right, usually I have women tripping over themselves around me." He said with a smirk as they headed back to the Impala. He was crazy, he knew that, even if a court of law said he was sane. He drove back to the motel he checked into and unlocked the door while she stayed warily outside. He supposed he couldn't blame her for that. But he repacked all his stuff and handed her the key. "It's paid up for two days." He said and then wrote out his cell number. "You run into any problems, call me. I mean it, okay? Don't be stubborn and prideful and all that. Trouble, call."

"You're letting me use your hotel room?" She asked, looking at him a little suspiciously. "Just like that? No strings?" She wasn't sure what to think of that. She might have expected him to let her use the other bed, or to try and seduce her but this was definitely not within her expectations.

"Yup." He said with a grin. "Well, the strings are not to trash it, since it's in my name and all. That would be bad, and definitely piss me off. Come on, did you really expect me to use some lame pick up line like I left my teddy bear at home, can I sleep with you instead?"

"No, not the teddy bear routine." She said blushing a little. "Thank you." She told him honestly."I appreciate it, and I promise not to trash it. Or run up the movie rentals. Might just relax for a couple of days before getting back on the road. " She had never met anyone quite like him before. While it didn't exactly renew her faith in humanity, it went a long way for renewing it in the possiblities of the individual.

"You're welcome." He said, though he wasn't exactly sure where his train of thought came from. He'd go back to Texas, and Jack might even yell at him. Since Chicago he was insistent on 'rest' for Dean after anything remotely strenuous. That got on his nerves. Hopefully he'd be distracted by Kaylie. "So, you know, give me a call if you need anything."

"I will... you know... you don't have to go... there are two beds. You look pretty beat." She said, not liking the thought of sending him out the door without any rest. It was a long drive to Texas. "You did pay for it after all."

Dean laughed. "And here I thought you thought I was cute." He teased. But he was tired. It was whirlwind trip to Kansas to get there at the perfect moment to close the gateway down. And he still wasn't recovered fully from Hong Kong, though he'd never admit it. But a good night's sleep without having to drive hours first...that sounded good as he tossed his bag on the bed he claimed as his. He was just...too used to getting two beds as opposed to one. He didn't even realize he did it until she pointed out. "I get the bathroom first."

"Go right ahead." She said as she entered the room and struck her claim on the bed of her choice. "So what are you going to do next?" She asked as she found something comfortable to sleep in while waiting to get into the bathroom to change.

Dean showered, hot water streaming down was good for stiffness he could continually feel settling in. Brushed his teeth, and remembered nearly at the last moment that he wasn't alone or with Sammy, so slid his boxers back on rather than just staying in the towel.

"Your turn." He said. "I don't know. I guess I should think about getting a real job at some point, can't keep mooching off Ben. Probably something with cars. Still working out the details in my head." Because in prison he had a lot of time to think. Nothing but think, stare at the ceiling and think about what he would do if he got out of there.

Chavi headed into the bathroom to wash up and get into her sleep clothes. A tank top and sweat pants. "Do you like working on cars?" She asked as she came out and climbed into the bed. "Oh god this feels good." She said with faint laugh. It had been weeks since she had slept in a real bed.

Dean was circling the room, dusting and salting it. Because some habits died hard. And if they ever did die, you usually followed in short order. Made sure his gun was loaded and a knife under his pillow. He chuckled at her comment. "I know cars. I like cars. Sometimes more than people." He said with a laugh. Washed up and changed, she went from beautiful to breathtaking. And it really wasn't fair that he'd cornered himself into the 'nice young man' role. "So it's way too late to use the teddy bear line, huh?" He teased.

She laughed. "Yeah I think so." She said. "But I am flattered. I was just never one for one night stands. It complicates life... at least for the woman." She didn't know how it worked from the man's point of view. "If it's any consolation, if I thought it would go anywhere... I wouldn't say no." She said as she adjusted her pillow and lay on her side to look at him. Sometimes it sucked to be logical and practical about things that should be emotional and primal.

"Oh, you're a tease." He said as he dug into his bag for his M&Ms. He'd gotten them by the boxful during his trial, he didn't think he'd ever have to buy another bag for the rest of his life. And after he finished his stash, he was even afraid he might not want to buy another bag! "Tell me this NOW."

Chavi laughed. "This from the man who was willing to simply get back in his car to drive away. " She liked his sense of humor. She also liked the fact that he was interested. "So... cars... what else is there in Texas?"

"Horses. Tex-Mex food. Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders, open space, illegal immigrants, elemental spirits, angry as hell Native American and frontiersmen spirits, helpful cashiers, hurricanes, tornadoes, death penalty by express lane, Texas rangers and border patrol, a normal brother with a perky girlfriend and a weird cranky foster father...but I live minutes from the beach, so I can't complain much there. Except during hurricane season." He said with a laugh.

"Sounds like you have found a place to call home." She said. "Is this a new development?" She asked. He seemed far too practiced at the nomadic way of life for it to have been something he had been in for long.

Home, there was a word he'd never really considered or tried to pin down on any non moving (meaning non Impala) location. But he smiled a bit at that. "Yeah, it's new." He said. "My dad, he kept us moving from when I was four until, well, the day he died. We kept it up until...well, recently." Chicago. The horrific event he had lived through. And the aftermath of Sam leaving. Really leaving that time. "What about you? Why'd you go the reverse of me?" From home to nomadic. "I know, you said all that stuff about making decisions on your own and all. But there's always an event."

"My father is... a very demanding man. He thinks that I need to be obedient in all things. Including who I associate with, who I can see, what sort of job I can have... and that I will marry one day and then that man will tell me how to live my life. Of course all the while expecting me to take my grandmother's place one day. Most of it I could deal with even if I didn't like it, but the lack of trust... it was hard to live with that."

Dean couldn't help it. He laughed. "Yeah, I can see it going over well...someone telling you what to do." He said. From what he knew of her so far, that wasn't something that ever went over well, even if she agreed with what they were saying. "So what's the plan? Just hitchhike until you figure something out?" For a woman who looked like Chavi, that would be dangerous. And for some odd reason...he cared.

"Pretty much. I just had to get away, didn't think about it or where to go. Figured I would find some place that I fell in love with and put down roots. I know.. .a naive way to look at it but, I didn't really know what else to do." She shrugged "It hasn't been so bad so far."

"You tripped over a guy in a cemetary and now you're in his motel room. Sweetheart, on paper, it looks pretty bad." He pointed out.

She laughed at that. "I suppose it does, but in my favor, we aren't in the same bed, and you are a lot nicer than some of the men I meet in normal places." She said smiling at him.

He buried his head in his pillow. "You didn't just say that. You did not call me a 'nice guy.' That's the kiss of death. Like when the only thing you can say about a girl is that she has a nice personality." He said, as he lifted his head back off the pillow. "I can find a whole list of people who could argue with that one." The ones who could describe him as reckless, cocky, arrogant, flippant, mouthy, etc.

"I don't have a bad boy fixation." She told him, she had a feeling Dean had a bad boy side to him but it wasn't the same as actually being a bad boy. "Nice is good." Nice was safe, and while normally safe wasn't something you thought about, it was when you were out on the road and vulnerable.

"I can't believe I've been saddled with 'nice guy' label." Dean said as he flopped back on his back. "Shoulda just let the hellmouth eat me."

Chavi laughed in delight. "You are funny. " She said. "I happen to like nice. So don't knock it." She told him as she snuggled into the blankets. She liked this. She had missed having someone to talk to. It had been the hardest part of leaving her family behind. Leaving behind the comraderie.

"Don't knock nice. Yeah, okay." He said with a chuckle. "Says the one who wouldn't have fallen for the teddy bear line. I am so screwed now. And not in a pleasant way either."

"Oh come on, the teddy bear line is lame unless you are in a relationship, then it's cute. " She told him. "So is that your best line or do you have others that you use on unsuspecting women that trip over you in the dark?"

"Oh absolutely." Dean said. "None of which I'm going to tell you, you're obviously immune."

"Did you ever think of just... I don't know...talking to a girl... not using lines? I can't imagine that it wouldn't work for you." She couldn't imagine that there weren't a handful of woman back in Texas waiting in line to get his attention.

"You know, I tried that once." Dean said. "Of course, if you lay down the facts of everything, I'm really not someone most want to know. I'm unemployed, I just got off death row...seriously. For shit I didn't even do, and I was involved in the freak show trial of the century. Believe me, once the novelty wears off, not much to recommend me besides a charming smile and all around good looks. Lines work better."

"Wow... you really don't like yourself much, do you?" Chavi said. "That's a shame too, cause I see a lot to like. Maybe you should give yourself a chance."

He shot her a look at that one. Huh. He'd never thought about that before. Then again, so far he'd failed in every task set out for him to do. The only thing he'd done right was run out of his burning house with baby Sammy in his four year old arms. He'd found Jack, but lost Sam in the same day. Did that equal it out? The demon was still around, his father was still dead, his brother was still convinced he was going to turn dark. Hardly a successful life.

"That's 'cause you just met me. I'm still in the unbelievably good looking and nearly obnoxiously charming stage." He said with a grin.

"Nice cover, but I'm not buying it. You screwed up when you were willing to just walk away and leave me here in a hotel room you paid for right after meeting me. Besides... I have an instinct about people." She said as she looked at his face, the lines, the way his eyes looked when he thought she wasn't looking. "And you are a worrier, one of those people that thinks everything is your responsibility."

"Everything I take responsibility for IS my responsibility." He said. Because it was. The mission to Save Sammy. Kill the yellow eyed demon somehow. He'd even taken on part of the burden of keeping Jack out of trouble (Ben shouldered the most of it, and luckily Jack wasn't a trouble making kid). Killing as many evil things as he could as long as he walked the earth. "Besides, you needed the hotel more than me. You were the one willing to sleep in a graveyard."

"Grave yards are usually pretty safe, and until I can pick up a little work somewhere, it's a choice between lodgings and dinner. It's a lot harder to fake dinner." She said honestly. "Was thinking of picking up a job in the next town for a little while then moving on. "

He rolled over on his side and propped his head up on his hand. "You have no idea what you're doing, do you?" He asked as he looked at her. "You took off and you have no plans for the basic necessities." He and his father hadn't run credit card scams because it was fun.

She flushed a little and stammered. "I can find work... it shouldn't be that hard. " It was true. She had some money that she had been saving back, and had used part of it for a bus ticket to get a head start on her family. The rest had come from playing darts and the occasional odd job along the way. She did a lot of sleeping outside but the weather was good for it so she didn't mind.

He shook his head. "You're going to get yourself in trouble." He said with a sigh. He could see it now. "Okay, look, I'll give you a master class in the morning."

She smiled a little. "Okay... that should be interesting." She told him. "You know... most peope wouldn't believe that I would need one."

He laughed. "If you didn't need one, you would have had your own hotel room." He pointed out. "There's a whole game to play if you're going to be nomadic you know. Especially without that steady source of income. God, now don't I sound like a white trash criminal!"

She laughed then. "Oh, I don't plan on staying nomadic. Just until I find someplace I want to stay in. I am sure someplace out there will catch my eye. In the mean while I suppose a crash course wouldn't hurt." Besides, it would mean more time with this man, she really did like him.

"I don't know, Corpus Christi didn't exactly catch my eye. It just sorta...stuck." Dean said. Weird how that happened. And he couldn't even really explain it. Just that, more or less, that was home now. He was working out plans for a business in his head, with ancillary plans of, believe it or not, owning property. Nothing he had planned on, or even really wanted, when he went in search of his youngest brother.

"Fate sometimes does that. Catches up with you in the oddest of places and times. Some people have this slow building steady destiny. Something that builds in mometum like a bike going down hill. Other people... it lands in your lap out of the clear blue sky that this is were you were meant to be. It's what was meant to happen."

"Can't say I'm a big fan of destiny." He said, his thoughts turning to Sam. Somewhere out there because of what Sam thought his destiny was supposed to be. "Sounds like handing yourself over to chance, if you ask me. Guess I'm more proactive than that."

"Are you sure about that?" She asked. "The nomadic way of life is nothing but chance. Then again you chose to settle down so maybe you are being proactive. " She shrugged. "Wasn't exactly thinking of much except escape. " She had felt so trapped with her family, like she was suffocating.

"I know how that can be. Believe me." Dean said. "Shit." He said with a chuckle. "I have to call my brother. You'd think Jack was my mom. You think I'm a worrier, you should meet Jack." He said as he reached over for the phone and called Jack. "Hey, I'm done." He said when his brother answered.

"Glad to hear it. I was starting to worry. When you headed back?" Jack asked, as he yawned into the phone. He had been staying up waiting for the call.

"Don't know, kinda hanging around. I like the company." He said and laughed as he heard the yawn. "Aww..did I keep you up past your bedtime?"

"Yeah considering I have class in the morning. " Jack said. "Wait... company? What company?"

"Dude, you're nosy." Dean said with a laugh. "I'm not asking about your company, am I?"

"That's because you know the answer to that question already." Jack said. "What company?" Last time Dean had been away from home with company he had wound up tortured and in the hospital.

"I better know the answer to that question, because if I'm wrong, Kaylie will kill you. It'll be your balls she uses as jewelry, not mine." Dean said. "So I'll talk to you when I get back. I promise, I'm coming back, okay?"

"Okay." Jack said, not bothering to try and stifle the next yawn. "I'll call tomorrow night if you aren't home. " He promised. "Get some sleep." He said and hung up.

Dean laughed as he put his cell phone back on the nightstand. "And that's the youngest brother who thinks he's my mom." He said, shaking his head. "He'd probably try to put me on a curfew if he thought I'd listen to it. Your siblings that bad? Besides the one I might have to beat up."

"My sisters are. They are so worried that I will never settle down with a family of my own. Never have anything they do so they are constantly worried about my reputation and trying to introduce me to men. Of course I already know them all and have avoided dating them for a reason but it doesn't stop them from trying."

"Oh, then tonight will be a good story for them." He said with a laugh. "You can tell them you can find your own men any time, anywhere, as long as there's a cemetery available. They'll love that."

Chavi laughed at that. "Oh yeah... it will go over so well. 'Are you insane? You spent the night in a hotel room with a strange Gadje? Are you asking for trouble? What man would have you now?'" She said in an imitation of eldest sister. "Thank god ... this will be a story I will be sure to spread all about the tribe if I ever go back."

"This is unfair." Dean said with a laugh. "I get to sully your reputation without actually getting to sully your reputation. Do you know how difficult my life is? Man, no one from Texas is going to believe this."

"Oh poor Dean... this whole being a gentleman thing is going to ruin your reputation, isn't it?" She teased. "Poor baby."

"Completely and utterly." He agreed seriously. "So I guess I won't be spreading this around town when I go back. Though you should check out Corpus Christi. It's small enough to get to know people, and big enough to hide in." He'd managed quite a bit of time on the Most Wanted list, staying in one place, out in the open, without being found after all.

"I might just have to do that. " She said with a smile. Especially if it meant seeing more of Dean Winchester.

He grinned. "All right then. Get some sleep." He said as he reached over to turn off the light. "Oh yeah, this doesn't come from you being a gypsy, but from me not really knowing you. You steal or hurt my car, I will track you down and hurt you in horrible, horrible ways."

"Hurt your car?" She asked, and laughed. "Good night, Dean. Your girlfriend is safe from me." She had seen how he treated The Car. The way he kept The Car. It was special to him.

"Night, Chavi." He said as he rolled back onto his stomach, made sure the knife was within easy reach, and settled off to sleep. It had been a weird, weird, weird day to say the least.

Chavi lay awake watching the man until she was sure he was asleep then closed her eyes and let her self drift into a light doze that eventually became a deep comfortable sleep.

Dean didn't sleep straight through. He never did, not since the night his mother died. A few hours of sleep, he'd wake up, and most of the time he could adjust his pillow and go back to sleep until the next time he woke up. That's just how he was. He rarely snored, he knew that, because he was never asleep long enough to get to the deep sleep snoring phase.

So he woke up far before Chavi did, she was sleeping soundly. He went across the street, got breakfast, and then had his weaponry spread across his bed as he cleaned and modified, the TV softly humming in the background about the day's forecast.

Chavi woke to the smell of breakfast and sat up in the bed, pushing the dark waves away from her face. "Morning... guess I slept late." He moved so quietly that she hadn't even noticed him coming and going.

"Nah, it's still early." Dean said. "Not even ten yet." Normally he slept till noon if he could, because he settled down to sleep around six. Or kept some god awful late night the night before. But it wasn't even ten yet, and he'd eaten breakfast and was reloading the rock salt rounds. "Weatherman says sunny and calm, so I'm thinking by four there'll be a tornado warning." He said with a laugh.

She laughed as she moved to the center of the bed and sat up with her legs folded. "Is the weather that mercurial around here?" She asked, liking the sound of his laughter, the way he smiled. She just wondered if those smiles ever reached his eyes. Such sad eyes.

"Oh yeah." Dean said. "There's a reason The Wizard of Oz was set in Kansas, storms roll in on a dime. Those are fun, trying to outdrive. Talk about your adrenaline rush." He'd done it a few times, whenever their jobs took them into the MidWest.

"Are you an adrenaline junky? Or just unlucky in your travels?" She asked as she reached over to take her share of the breakfast that he had left for her.

"Okay, I'll admit it, there's a large part of me that finds it fun as hell." He said as he took another bagel. "But like I said, the weather turns on a dime. My dad was pretty sure that Kansas fell on some sort of psychic or mystical fault line. I agree with him. Even the weather is labile."

"It would make sense. With a gateway to hell amongst other things." She said with a nod. "Rock salt rounds." She said watching what he was doing. "I suppose that makes sense as well. Something I would never have thought of."

"Multi purpose. Disrupts spirits, and the force behind the blast hurts everything else." Dean said. "Even humans, doesn't kill them, but it hurts like a son of a bitch." He knew, he'd been shot in the chest with rock salt, didn't exactly tickle. "Why? What do your people use when they have to use something?"

She told him the concoction her grandmother put together to use against spirits. "Although I swear a harsh look from her would be enough to send all but the most savage demons whimpering home."

"Oh, I think I know of a demon would laugh and then drink all her coffee." He said with a chuckle, thinking of Ben. That was one demon who was not easily intimidated, that was for sure. "Might have to try that theory out sometime."

She laughed. "Well that would require me to be around for that to happen. " She said. Not that she minded that at all "So you know a coffee drinking demon."

"Oh, I know a coffee drinking, chain smoking, straight from the bottle drinking demon who owns a strip club." Dean said with a grin. "I live above his garage. At least until the first payment comes in. He's...interesting."

"Interesting... that's... an odd place for a hunter to reside. He has to be a little more than interesting I am sure." This man was an exercise in contradictions and in a good way. She wondered if it were so easy for others to see beneath the veneer.

"Nah, he's boring. Cranky, and boring. Except for the whole control of fire thing.' Dean said wtih a laugh. "Not everything outside the normal realm is evil, just like not everything inside it is good." Had taken him a while to accept that, but he had.

"So what made you decide to live above the garage of a cranky and boring demon?" She asked. She had been brought up to know that there was good and evil on both sides. Even if there were some things that she knew had very little chance of being anything but evil.

"He, ah, kinda raised my youngest brother...it's one of those long stories." Dean said with a chuckle as he checked the edges on his knives. "Tell you what, we definitely want to be ahead of the storm, and you definitely don't want to be caught in it, so you tell me where to drop you off, and I'll tell you on the way."

"Oh surprise me." She said as she grabbed her clothing. "I have no clue where I was going anyway. " She dressed quickly and stuffed her night clothes into her back pack.

He sat back and yes, watched her dress. Sure, she turned her back, so the show was PG instead of at least an R, but still. It was a nice show. "Surprise you, huh? Okay, I can do that." He said as he repacked his weapons bag and threw it in the trunk. "I'm driving back to Corpus, so you just let me know along the way when you want to get out." He said as he looked at the sky, and sure enough, the so called clear sunny day was quickly turning overcast.

"Okay." She said as she climbed into the passenger's seat. It looked to be a stormy day, but the company looked to be anything but, and she had missed having someone to talk to. "So you were going to tell me a long story."

Dean laughed. "I was. Should probably lull you to sleep if you didn't get enough last night." He said. And started from the top. Stopping for coffee and drive thru. Having to take the long way back to Texas because of the path of storms. He'd turn off his tape player and listen to the weather channel at different intervals for that. "And so, then, after I was found not guilty, the government offered me major hush money. Which works out good for me. Gives me money to figure things out with."

Now she understood the sad eyes. "You have been through so much." She said. "It's amazing that you manage to be as good humored as you are." Most people she knew would be so bitter, too bitter to function in society really.

"Well, you get a choice. Curl up and die, or fight back. I choose to fight back. See, told you. Proactive." Dean said. "And I can't believe you sat there and listened for ten hours."

"Why wouldn't I?" She asked. "I'm honored that you told me so much about yourself and your life." She could tell he was the sort that in later years would simply grunt when asked a question such as 'are you alright' or 'how do you feel about fill in the blank'. He played everything so close to his chest that she doubted even those closest to him knew anything about him really. Yet he had opened up with her. That was a precious gift.

"Well, it filled the time." Dean said with a shrug. Honored that he'd run his mouth for ten hours, nearly straight? And somehow he felt comfortable doing that. Anyone that knew him would have him drug tested if he admitted that. Or looked for pod people. But he pulled into a gas station for a fill up, with a bit of a grin as he got out to work the pump. But somehow she cut through the layers of charm and flippancy. And...he liked that. He did.

Chavi watched him through the window and smiled. Maybe she would have to give Corpus Christi a chance. Couldn't hurt... and she had a guide after all. She really liked him. For the first time since leaving home, she was starting to think that maybe it hadn't been such a bad idea after all.

He filled the gas tank, that was the one downside to his car. She was a gas guzzler. Thank God his father had taught him a few tricks to fool the pump, which he still practiced. Then he paid up and grabbed some junk food, tossing her a bag of Skittles as he got back into the car.

He felt a little stupid, oh yeah. That his whole life story, that he wasn't even sure Sam knew the full of it (and he'd been there for most of it), he'd basically poured out to her.

"So, wow, guess I have nothing left to say." He said with an embarrassed chuckle.

"Oh I am sure we will come up with something to talk about." She said and thanked him for the skittles. "My brother mixes these with M&M's and calls them S&M's . He thinks he is clever." She said with a laugh. "I don't tell him otherwise."

"Huh, must only be family that gets a free pass on that from you." Dean said with a laugh. "You've called me on everything I've tried to pull on you. And the teddy bear line, that's a good one."

"No... usually I call everyone on everything... but Gregory... he's my little brother... " She said with a shrug, as if that explained it all. "Besides... you would find me boring if I fell for ALL of your charms."

She got a smirk from him for that one. "Ah, so you are falling for SOME of them. Good to know!"

"We're almost to Corpus Christi... and I am still in the car. That should tell you something." She said as she opened the skittles and started to eat them.

He nodded, still grinning. "Suppose it should." He said as he turned onto the highway that went straight through Corpus Christi, skimming the coastline. "So that's the Texas beach. It's not bad, not too overrun with tourists, but the water is warm."

"I've never been to the ocean." She said with a smile, as she looked at the water. "That should prove interesting. I can swim though... so there is that at least."

"You've never been to the ocean?" He said as he turned off an exit. "Man, even I've been to the ocean before I moved here." He drove through a park on the by way, and pulled onto the shoreline parking lot. "Come on, time to get to the ocean."

"You have been almost everywhere that you can drive to." She said with a laugh as he parked the car. She breathed in the scent when she opened the door. "You wouldn't think it would be so loud." She said looking out over it in awe as the waves came toward the shore, the birds screeching over head.

"Yeah, it's not like it is on TV." He said as he got out and took off his boots and socks, rolling up his jeans a bit. "But it's quieter than most places, or maybe it's the lack of people noise. Though sometimes, you miss the people noise."

Chavi followed his lead. "It's soothing, even if it is loud. Can almost feel the waves from here... the force behind them." She said as she stared out to sea. "I could get used to this."

"Beats land locked motel rooms, that's for sure." Which he had spent the majority of his life in. "Great for the tan too. That's the one thing that really sucks about prison. You know, besides the armed guards, solitary, and cell searches. And the freedom to come and go as you please. An hour of sun each day. Unless you're me, then you're taken out in the middle of the night, because it's in the by laws you get an hour a day outside, with all the lights shining on you and snipers up on the catwalk to make sure you don't get away. I don't know, guess they figured I could jump tall electrical fences topped with razor wire in a single bound or something." He said with a chuckle. "So for three days after I got out, took a sleeping bag and some junk food and beer, and just camped out on the beach."

"I don't blame you." She said. "I would go mad with such confinement. " She said as they walked along the sand, which was more difficult than it looked on the tv. At least the dry sand. The wet sand was different. It sort of massaged the feet as she walked, it felt good.

"I nearly did." Dean confessed. He wasn't built for confinement. Or isolation. Even if he kept to himself, or worked a con, he liked to be surrounded by people sometimes. "But I kicked a couple of the guards' asses. At poker any way. Helped kill the time. So sounds like you're from a big family."

Chavi told him about her family. In all of its glory and dysfunction. She loved them, she truly did, and she knew that they loved her, but they didn't understand each other and what her father didn't understand, he didn't tolerate.

"Sounds like you're going to miss them." He said. He knew about Romany, she left. Which meant that the ties were severed, whether she liked it or not, unless she returned.

"Yes I will... but so long as I miss them, I can still love them." She said with a sigh. "If I stayed I am not so sure that I could say that. Even family can break the bonds of love given enough time."

"I guess they can." Dean said, especially if they were bound by such strict rules. His weird family didn't have strict rules like that. Just to have each other's backs when needed really. "Come on," he said after the sun set and the stars filled the sky. "It gets cold on the beach." And their legs were already wet from the incoming tide. Probably wouldn't take much for her to get cold.

She nodded. Even though she was cold, she wasn't ready to get back in the car. This was the point where he asked her where she wanted to be dropped off. This was where she went back to being alone. "So... where do you recommend I stay ?" Better to bring it up herself. Easier that way.

"Well, there are a few motels, a couple bed and breakfast type places." Dean said as he wiped the sand off his feet before pulling his socks and boots back on. Sand in the Impala didn't bother him, or the car, it was easily vacuumed out after all. "Or I've got a couch, Ben's got an extra room. He's safe, he's a grieving demon. He waits for the woman to literally throw herself at him before he does anything. Plus he works nights. And my brother's got a girl, who would probably be there anyway."

She smiled. "Perhaps the couch for now. Not sure your family would appreciate you tossing some strange woman into their midst." She said with a faint laugh. And there was relief in her tone. It wasn't good bye.

"Eh, as long as they're not bleeding, usually they wouldn't have a problem with that." Dean said with a chuckle. "Then again, my place is much more temperate." Compared to Ben's place, where the thermostat was turned up way too high. "But, okay, We'll do that." And he couldn't stop grinning. Thank god it was dark.

She smiled all the way back to the car. "Perhaps you could show me around the city tomorrow. I can start looking for work after I am at least a little familiar with the place."

"I can do that." Dean said. He'd spent days just driving or walking around, familiarizing himself with the layout of the city. Especially where the bars were! "Come on." He said as he got behind the wheel again. "Still got a half hour to Corpus."

Chavi buckled in and smiled at Dean. "Thank you." She said. "Again." She laughed a little. "Who knew a walk through a cemetery could lead to... what ever this is... definitely a new path?"

"Hey, I just went to go close down a gate." He said with a chuckle. "Not used to..paths..." using her analogy, "without a road map, but it could be fun."

"I think so too." She said looking up at him and smiling. She tingled all over as they drove the rest of the way into Corpus Christi. She didn't know where things would go with Dean. No clue if it would turn into something wonderful, or just a pleasant interlude, but she was looking forward to finding out.

He pulled into the driveway. Ben's car was there, but that didn't mean anything. Sometimes he didn't feel like driving it. Jack's car was there, as was Kaylie's, so Dean had to manuever his own car so he didn't block anyone in. It was late, and they'd most likely be getting up at some ungodly early hour.

He grabbed their bags and led her up the stairs along the outside of the garage to where he stayed. It had been a storage space, but everything in there moved to the garage below that no one really used except when hail storms were coming in. He and Jack and figured out how to put a bathroom in, and a small kitchenette. He didn't have much, or wanted much, so the place was surprisingly tidy. A few loose clothes here, scattered weapons there.

"So that's the couch." He said. "It pulls out. I'm going to go over to the house and get some blankets and pillows."

"Okay." She said as looked around, and started to unfold the sofa, and get it ready for when Dean returned.

Jack woke up when he heard the Impala come purring into the driveway. He kissed Kaylie's forehead as he eased his arm out from under her. "Be right back. Dean's home." He whispered and pulled on his sweat pants and padded down the stairs.

Dean was in the closet where the extra bedding was stored, finding stuff that would fit his pull out couch. "Hey." He said to Jack as Jack came downstairs. "Did I wake you? Sorry." He found a sheet and tossed it onto a pile where the blanket was. "Hey, where are our extra pillows?"

Jack padded over to another closet door and opened it, pulling out the two remaining extra pillows. The other two were on Dean's bed. "So, either you have company or you sprung a leak somewhere and your bedding is a mess."

"My bedding is fine." Dean said with a chuckle, folding the sheets and the blankets up. "I got company. Don't make a big deal out of it or something. You'd think I was the baby brother the way you carry on sometimes."

"Hmm... I have known you less than a year and you get nearly tortured to death by a date, who just happened to be a demon, nearly die of the flu, and then wind up in prison where the son of a bitch that hunted you down in the first place goes after you again. Can't imagine why I carry on... nothing ever happens to you." He said with sarcasm worthy of a Winchester.

"Right." Dean said with a grin. "Absolutely nothing." He said, clapping Jack on the shoulders before he took the pillows. "She's...just, you know, a girl I picked up in a cemetery and all. Completely normal."

"You picked up a girl in the cemetery?" He asked incredulously. "That was your company last night?" He shook his head. Only Dean. "So what's all the extra bedding for?"

"For my couch." Dean said, as if it was obvious. "I've never pulled it out, so the bed inside it isn't made up. Now it will be."

"Wait... you're putting her on the couch?" He asked. "I thought... oh... she isn't your type. Got it. Damsel in distress then?"

"Definitely not a damsel in distress and definitely my type." Dean said as he started rummaging through the fridge. He didn't have much in the way of food, usually he came over here and scavenged. "Do I even have a type? Jack, stop staring at me like I have three heads."

"You have more girls going in and out of your door than Ben's back stage door, and you finally find one that you really like and she is sleeping on the couch..." He started laughing a little then. "You have it bad, dont you?"

"You don't know what you're talking about." Dean said. "I don't have to to have sex with every girl that trips over me. That's not in the bylaws of being Dean Winchester as far as I know. You better hope not, cause I think Kaylie tripped over me when I was working on the wreck outside..." Have it bad? Well, he was buried in the fridge because he still couldn't stop grinning.

"No... and Kaylie never made you grin like that either or I would have had to think seriously about giving you a fat lip." He had seen the grin in the hall way while they were looking for blankets and pillows. "So I'm thinking that's why she is sleeping on the sofa... you don't wanna ruin your chances by being a horn dog."

"Saw your girlfriend naked once." Dean teased. Back when he was staying in the house, and headed toward the bathroom with a hangover. And found out Kaylie was in there first. Whoops! "Do I get a fat lip for that one? Dude, relax. She's sleeping on my couch. It's not a big deal."

"No, you didn't get a fat lip because you weren't interested in her." Jack said with a laugh "Yeah.. no big deal. You keep telling yourself. " He started back toward his room. "Are there any cheshire cats in our family history? Cause man... I keep expecting everything but that smile to disappear any moment."

"I'm gonna kick your ass." Dean said with a chuckle as he grabbed some food and wrapped it up in the blankets. "But first I have a delivery to make, so it's your lucky day. Go hide behind your sleeping girlfriend." He called out to Jack. "Putz." He said, shaking his head as he headed back to his loft apartment above the garage. "Okay, got blankets, tracked down pillows, and stole food. Great night." He said to Chavi as he came back in.

"Stole food, huh? Are they going to come banging on your door wanting it back?" She asked with a grin, having tidied things up a bit. Not that they were untidy, just... putting the weapons safely out of the way of the sofa... as well as the few clothes laying about were in a pile over by the bedroom door.

"Well, they're my main source of nutrition, they know that." Dean said as he put the pile on the opened sofa bed and separated the food from the bedding and made the bed in short order. "They'll hit me up for something later. One hand washes the other, right?" Usually that amounted to tightening of timing chains or brake pad replacing.

"That does tend to be a way. Are they going to care that you have a guest up here?" She asked. She didn't want to cause him trouble. She knew her family would have freaked if her brother had brought home some strange girl.

He chuckled, not quite knowing how to break it to her that it wasn't unusual for him to have guests. She had him pegged as a nice guy after all. What was unusual was the guest was on the couch. "Nah, they'll be fine. As long as their cars aren't blocked in and I don't turn on the air conditioning in the house."

"So what do you like to do when you aren't hunting down demons or playing poker with prison guards?" She asked with a smile.

"But that takes such a big chunk out of the day, you know." He said as he heated up some of the food in the microwave. "Poker, bars, weapons, I love cheesy action movies just for the comic value. And when all else fails, and Jack's not there to mock or anything, a good long drive works just as well."

She laughed a little. "I like comedies. Old cheesy horror movies. You know the ones from the 50s and 60s with the wacky music and all the monsters were animals grown to giant size or actors with trippy eye make up. "

"Good old camp fun." He said with a chuckle. "My brother and I, Sam, we used to watch them in the motel rooms we'd stay at. Completely violating bed time," but it wasn't like their father was there to kick their asses back into bed most of the time, "but we'd watch them, laugh our asses off and compare them to our father's notes."

"I try to get into the modern horror, but it's just not the same. People look at me as though I have sprouted a second head for laughing in all the wrong places. But they really are pretty funny."

"I saw this one, bad remake of House of Wax. Man those characters were stupid." Dean said with a laugh. "The stupidest one, I think, was this guy named Wade. How that character survived to adulthood, or late teenage or whatever, I don't know. I was actually cheering for him to get killed off, earned me some enemies in the theater."

"Oh I remember that one. He was the one that got into the truck with the freak who collected road kill, wasnt he?" She said with a laugh. "Yeah, that was pretty hillarious. Although I was cheering when Paris Hilton bought it."

"Hey, at least she earned her paycheck. All she had to do was run around in underwear and she earned it. That's why she was hired. Don't understand it, she's way too skinny." Dean said as the microwave beeped and he got the leftovers out. "Besides, you have no room to talk. You got into a car with someone you met in a graveyard. Was this a horror movie, you'd so be dead."

"Are you so sure?" She asked with a twinkle in her eyes. "After all you picked up some strange chick out of a cemetery. It could have just as easily been you waking up undead or some such. "

"Shit, you're right. I would have been the one people were throwing popcorn at and calling an idiot." Dean said with an laugh as he handed a plate. "Ooh, Night of the Living Dead, the original. Interested or are you just too darn tired from listening to me all day?"

"Original? I am all for it." She said. "Just don't call me Barbara." How many girls had been tormented by "They're coming to get you, Barbara" over the years?

"Only if they're coming to get you, I swear." Dean said with a grin as he found the DVD and popped it into the player. Dean didn't have much in the way of furniture, because he didn't need much in the way of furniture. He didn't even have a table, because anything he ate, he ate on the couch. So, he had a couch, and a bed in the bedroom. And a coffee table to pile up research on. And a map along one wall with push pins in different locations (though so far he'd never been closer than three steps behind Sam, he was keeping track). He grabbed the remote, popped some popcorn and settled down on the pulled out sofa bed on his stomach as the movie started playing.

Chavi settled in beside him, reaching over to grab popcorn out of the bowl now and again, eventually scooting closer and closer to him in the process until they were side by side.

They made it through Night of the Living Dead, and most of Dawn of the Dead (the 1978 version), laughing and mocking both the supposedly alive people and zombies. Yes, there was popcorn thrown at the TV, though they both knew the movies well enough to quote lines as they were spoken. The slow motion option on the DVD player made some scenes down right hysterical to them.

His pull out couch was a good size, maybe a twin, but by the time the opening credits rolled on Dawn of the Dead, there was a whole lot of space between them and edges of the bed, There were plenty of furtive glances on behalf of both of them until the popcorn bowl was empty and discarded on the floor, and sleep finally over took the both of them, the movie still playing, the TV screen eventually turning blue when there was nothing left to play.


	13. Chapter 13

A/N We're having a two for the price of one sale today on chapters. Alas it also means we are coming to the end of this particular story. For those of you that have followed our boys through "Revelations" and now "Lost and Found" There is one more story to be told in our AU. "In the name of the father" will be posting shortly. Thank you to everyone that has followed the story this far, and a special thank you to everyone who has reviewed.

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"Well, that's that." Father Pavel said as he packed the rest of his belongings. He was being recalled to Rome. It happened occasionally. Being as experienced and aged as he was, he was in the higher hierarchy of the church. It's the way things worked. He snapped his battered suitcase closed and looked at Sam. "You are going to stay out of trouble, right child?"

Sam smiled at him. "I'm good. I'll stay out of trouble." He told him. He had spent the last couple months learning everything he could, he figured he could handle it on his own. What choice was there? Rome beckoned and the priest had to go. "It looks to be a simple case, not even sure that there is actually anything going on with the subject. Might just be a simple case of reassuring the family that it's not demonic and moving on from the looks of it. I'll write you once I have it dealt with."

"And if it is too much to handle, you must back off and call Rome for assistance." Father Pavel said, again, as he walked with Sam to the taxi that would take the priest to the airport. "I'm sure it's nothing there too important, in Rome that is. Usually just a bunch of old men talking about the good old days."

"I will be careful, and yes I will call for assistance if it's something I cant handle." Sam had come to love the aging priest. He hoped that this wasn't good bye but it was hard to say. If it was it wasn't anything either of them had any control over. "Thanks...for everything."

"You are quite welcome, my boy." Father Pavel said. He was going to the Vatican because his request for access to the Archives had finally been granted. He was looking forward to digging through documents older than even the Church for a time, in hopes of finding new information to help his young friend here. "Well, I'm off. Good journeys to you, Samuel."

"You as well, Father. I will talk to you soon." He promised and helped the priest with his bags whether he needed it or not. He saw the man onto the church's plane and then left the air field before stepping into the shadows.

It was getting easier to travel this way, and Sam was finding that it troubled him less. In fact the only ability he had recently gained that troubled him was fire, and that one he refused to deal with, or even really acknowledge, and that was because of what had happened to Jess.

He checked into a hotel room, reserving it for a week with the credit card then took a taxi to the home where he was supposed to meet the family of the possessed.

The mother, pale with a pinched expression, elderly, showed Sam in. Where a deep voice could be heard bellowing obscenities. "He's up there." She said softly, hopelessly, vaguely waving her hand up the stairs. Her husband, also elderly, was cleaning his shot gun. The message clear, if Sam could not help his boy (a grown man in his own right) then he was going to be put down like a dog.

Sam frowned a moment then went to sit down across from the parents. "I know this is... all but unbearable." He said "But if your son is genuinely possessed... that won't help him. Sometimes, these things take time, a lot of time. So don't give up hope, please. Sometimes hope and a prayer is all that gets us through."

"We've been praying." The father said, but put his shot gun away in favor of his revolver, which he then cleaned carefully and deliberately. "We're good, God fearing people. Go to church every Sunday, give to the collection plate...our son was always a wild one. When he was younger it was women and drugs. Later women and booze. Now this." He shook his head as his wife sighed.

"Just do what you can." The wife said.

"I will." Sam said, still not sure this was an actual possession. It was one of those circumstances where it read like a possession, but something about it was off. He wrote it off to nerves at flying solo. If it wasn't kosher he would know soon enough. "You might hear some things... ignore them. What ever you do... don't interfere. " He said as he rose to make his way up the stairs to the subject.

"Good afternoon." He said as he opened the door, and set his back to the side.

"This the best the Church could send? You're not even a priest." Then the restrained man started cackling. "You're a demon. They sent a demon! How poetic! So, shall we burn each other with holy water for a bit?"

"You guys really need to come up with a better opening line. It's too predictable." Sam said as he set things up. "Shall we begin?" He made the sign of the cross on the man's forehead as he started the ritual.

"Don't you want to talk? See into my soul? Share our feelings?" The man snipped. "Or I could tell you how your brother is doing. You'd like that, wouldn't you? That we know more about him than you do."

Sam ignored him, at least outwardly. He knew the demon couldn't hurt his brother, that would negate the deal, what they knew didn't matter if they couldn't touch him. It did however make him miss Dean desperately in that moment.

So instead of comment, he flicked the holy water and pressed onward.

The man howled at the holy water touching his skin. "Idiot." He said. "You and your priest, so stupid. You're still clinging to your humanity, you should know better. People get hurt when you pretend you're human."

SNSNSN

"Where are you headed off to?" Chavi asked, expecting him to tell her about some death or another that needed to be investigated in the next county.

She went into the kitchen to make him something to take with him on the road to eat.

"Outside Baton Rouge." Dean said as he packed his bag. "Ash called, and his program got a hit on the name I told him to follow. I said it was cause he owed me money." He said with a chuckle. "And, yeah, he does." He moved through the house packing various weapons. Still blew his mind, his house. As in he owned it. Four bedrooms, a living room, a kitchen, a deck, two bathrooms, a basement, an attic, a garage. Got for a song because it was haunted. Not that he didn't take care of it right away, leaving him with a ridiculously underpriced, unhaunted house. With plenty of money from his first stipend from the government to buy out a garage near by. Because he could only do one legit thing to make legit money, and that was fix cars.

"He?" She asked then the realization dawned. "You have a lead on Sam?" She hoped it paid off. She knew that was the cause for the sadness behind his eyes.

"That's the theory." Dean said. Had taken a while, and a lot of back tracking, but he thought he came up with an alias that Sam was using a lot. And had it traced. Sure enough, 'Sean Talbot' had been living in Salt Lake City when Sam was, and had disappeared the same time Sam did, the same time Dean saw Sam last. It was just a matter of following it from there. He'd been a step behind, three steps behind, but now he might have caught up with him. "Won't know for sure until I get there."

"Okay, well... I hope everything works out how you want it to." She had her doubts though. For what ever reason, Sam had run, and had stayed on the run. She didn't think it would miraculously end just because they came in contact with each other once more. But Dean needed that hope, so she couldn't bring herself to burst that bubble of hope.

He raised an eyebrow and chuckled at her less than hopeful statement. "Everything will be fine." Dean said with a nod as he took out his store of cash. Small bills, ones and fives, and change. Great for vending machines and drive through. Usually whatever was left in his pocket at the end of the day got automatically dumped into this box and put on a shelf.

"I know." She said, certain that Dean would be fine no matter how things turned out at the end of the day. But Fine didn't mean well, and it didn't mean happy, it meant functional. "Any idea how long you will be gone ?"

"Ah...I don't know. A week at most." Dean said. New concept for him, couldn't cut and run. He had a garage with cars to fix, he had Jack, and he liked to think he had Chavi. Definitely not a cut and run atmosphere. "I'll know more when I get there. You know, if he'll even talk to me. If I'll talk to him." He was toying with the idea of just getting a visual on his brother, to just assure himself Sam was all right.

"Call me... let me know you're okay. You knowing you are fine and me knowing you are fine... two different things."

Dean grinned. "You and Jack are going to tag team me if I don't, aren't you?" He asked. Somehow people thought he was someone who needed to be fussed over. "Fine, fine, I give. I'll call and let you know that I'm fine by all definitions of the word."

She smiled at him. "You know it's only because we care." She told him. "Okay, we got road munchies, a couple bottles of iced coffee, and high octane soda." She said, indicating the bag she had put together. "Everything else I am sure you took care of... be careful... not just physically."

"Always." He said. And with the exception of his brother, he was a fairly guarded person. ANd despite what people honestly thought, he didn't really have a death wish and he wasn't suicidal. "See you when I get home."

SNSNSN

"I'm not human... but I am no demon yet either." He said matter of factly. "And the only reason people get hurt is when little demons think they can undo a bargain. Now be a good boy an leave the nice young man." He said as he took a drink of water and started once more.

"Your inexperience is showing." The man sneered as he broke free of the bonds. "Nice young man. Such naivete. How do you go through life like that?" He asked as the windows slammed shut, and the door locked.

Sam attempted to hold the possessed down with his telekinesis but it didnt work "What he hell?" He demanded. Under normal circumstances his abilities not working would be a god send for him. A sign that he was doing something right, climbing out of the abyss, but now it spelled trouble, and that was something he didnt need.

"Wrap yourself in a faith not your own and you expect it to protect you?" The man taunted as he stood up. "When that faith thinks of you as a most reviled creature? Thought you were the smart one, out of the Winchesters. Obviously there was a miscalculation somewhere. Then again, you might not be the dumbest one either."

"You're not up on the times... it actually is my faith." He said and resorted to the ritual once more. Even if he wasn't the right sort of demon it would hurt. God knew it hurt him. Might distract it long enough to let go of the hold on the windows and door.

The man screamed and tried a different track. "Sam Winchester." He said. "That's not the name you checked into your hotel with. And I know someone else who knows that name." He said in a sing song voice as he bobbed about the room like a hyperactive child.

"Who?" Sam demanded as he grabbed the demon and slammed it against the wall, his arm over his throat. "Who knows?"

"I can't tell you." He said, laughing. "It's a secret. A big top secret. And I keep secrets better than you do, that's for sure. This'll be good. Worth the exorcism."

"Yeah? You haven't spoken to Meg recently, have you?" He said and started canting once more, pausing then asking once more. "Who knows I am here?"

The demon laughed again. And knocked Sam across the room. "So impatient." He said as he shook off the effects of the canting and holy water. This was nearly as much fun as actual torture. The taunting. Sure, there was some physicality thrown in, because that was also fun.

Sam groaned as he hit the wall and slid down it. "So didn't miss this part of normal." He groaned as he got to his feet. Then realization dawned. "No." He said. "No no no you did not make sure Dean ... no! "

SNSNSN

Dean had crossed the border into Louisiana. He had this feeling like he was being followed, and kept checking his mirrors. No one was ever there, so he figured he was just majorly paranoid because now he was free to travel wherever, however. Strange concept he was still adjusting to.

But he pulled over just across the border to a greasy spoon diner, he was hungry. He was saving most of the snacks Chavi packed for those long stretches without rest stops.

"What can I get you?" The waitress asked, a 30 something brunette whose name tag (improbably) read Samantha. She filled the upturned coffee mug while she waited.

Dean glanced over at the specials menu written on a dry erase board in red marker. "Um...I'll take the chicken fried steak and fries." He said. That should hold him over for a while. And what were the chances that his waitress' name would be Samantha? If he wasn't creeped out already, he was well on his way.

"Coming right up." She said as she disappeared into the kitchen. There were a hand full of customers in the diner, most of them looking over at Dean as though he were a curiosity.

Dean looked around uneasily, feeling the eyes upon him. He rubbed the back of his neck and hunched over his coffee. He should have gotten this to go. But there was construction along the major highway, leaving him with rutted detour roads, the car needed a bit of a break. So did he. Having to swerve around pot holes the size of Montana and cows just loitering in the middle of the road...and he didn't even know what he was driving into. Maybe if he ignored them, they'd all go away or something. That theory worked when he was three after all.

The waitress brought his food out to him 10 minutes later. "Here you are. Anything else I can get you?" She asked with a sweet smile that didn't reach her eyes.

"Thanks, I'm good." Dean said and turned his attention to his food. Now Samantha the waitress was giving him the creeps. He'd been around tired fed up waitresses enough to know when something was off. Her too sweet smile and cold hard eyes. But he cut his steak, tougher than shoe leather, and ate his fries, limp with grease, andn wondered why he had stopped here in the first place.

Samantha brought him his check. "There's a storm brewing." She said. "You don't want to get caught in it."

"Weather looks fine to me." He said carefully as he put out money for the check plus the expected tip. "I don't scare easily."

"Things change in a heart beat around here." She said as she pocketed the money with the ticket. "Sometimes you just gotta realize things are out of your control... and way bigger than you are. Anyway... drive careful." She started to walk away. "Talbot." She said looking over her shoulder. "Such a funny name... makes me think of those old werewolf movies. You know the ones with the whiney boy turning into a monster... killing the gypsy girl... funny name." She said, heading into the kitchen.

Dean's blood ran cold as he stared after her and rushed out of the diner, pulling out his cell phone. He called Chavi's place,and got the answering machine. "Crap." He said and waited for the tone. "Hey, it's me. Listen, anyone strange come around, don't let them in. Actually, yell for Ben."

Samantha stood at the window watching as the man made his way to the car. He wouldn't be going anywhere soon.

Dean hung up his cell phone and groaned when he saw his precious car. Four flats. How the hell did that happen? He examined one of the tires and saw the tell tale slash mark in the rubber. "Dammit!" He yelled, kicking at a parking space ledge. He went back into the diner. "Where's the nearest garage?" He asked. Even if he had to walk and roll back the tires himself.

Samantha smiled sweetly, this time the barest twinkle in her eyes. "Here ya go, sugar." She said and drew out a little map for him that would take him 6 blocks from the diner if he cut across a field and through an alleyway.

"Thanks, sweetheart." He said, slapping a grin he didn't even get close to feeling on his face. And started across the parkinglot, across the field. Oh sam was going to owe him big for this one if he were in any sort of trouble. Even if it was only in Dean's mind.

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"You want to ruin the surprise? Shame on you!" The demon said, keeping up with his assault. "Go ahead and try to leave. Dare ya." That would be more pain than what the demon could do to Sam right now.

Sam narrowed his eyes at the demon and dove for his bag. Some things Sam always carried with him. He pulled out the canister of salt and the cell phone. If the demon wanted him to leave, then he was going to stay put. He circled himself with it and after a moment's deliberation dialed Dean's cell phone number. It was a trap... that changed the rules.

The phone rang, then a pleasant female voice spoke. "We're sorry, the cellular phone you are trying to reach is out of area at this time. Please try back at a later time when the recipient may be in a zoned area. As always, we appreciate your business and we are doing all that we can to ensure coverage across the continental United States. Thank you, and have a pleasant day."

Sam swore in ways that would have made a sailor blush, then dialed Bobby's number hoping against all hope that the man would answer the damned phone.

Bobby answered on the fourth ring, he was buried beneath a wreck someone thought was salvagable. "Hey Sam. What's up?" He asked as he cleaned off a tool.

Sam's eyes never left the demon as he lay on the floor to catch his breath, and talk to Bobby. "You have to get hold of Dean and warn him off... He ... he's on his way here and it's a trap. Son of a bitch is trying to force me to break the deal... You gotta stop Dean."

Stop Dean? Did Sam forget that part of his brother that was a juggernaut? Especially when it involved Sam? "Sam, I'll do my best. I'll talk him out of it as best I can. Can you get out of there and skedaddle before Dean gets there?"

"No... he's blocking my abilities and it's locked down tighter than a drum." Sam said wincing a little at the pain. "Bobby if he shows up... the bastard's going to undo everything he did in Chicago... he'll make him relive the torture and die. You've gotta stop him."

"Sam, I'll do my best." Bobby said. And he'd definitely do his best. He couldn't let both of John's Boys lose themselves to the same demon that did in their parents. There was a symmetry there he didn't appreciate and would stand in the way of if he could.

Sam closed the cell phone and pushed himself into an upright position. "He's... not gonna ... be that easy to kill." He said as he got onto the bed. He just needed to rest. All he needed was a chance to rest... then he could fight back...

"All humans think that. All humans say that. But your flesh gives just as easily as a snail under boots." The demon taunted. "Crushed like a bug far too easily. Yet you still retain your arrogance, it's amazing. No wonder the other one is so obsessed with humans." Meaning the yellow eyed demon.

"Listen pal, first rule of hunting, don't care if it's animals, monsters, or man... is know your target. You obviously don't know shit about my brother. " Sam said laying his head down on the pillow, willing the pain to subside.

"Hunting? We're not hunting. He is. And he doesn't know his target." The demon said with a chuckle. "And we know a lot about your brother, more than you do probably. Do you want to see him before we kill him, or would you rather hide up here like a scared child?"

"You can't kill him unless I see him. A deal's a deal after all." Sam said. "A deal that you are breaking just with this trap alone. Daddy's not gonna be happy."

"Actually, the letter of the deal is that you can't seek out your brother." He pointed out. "And that your real father won't kill him. The rest of us, he's fair game. And it's wonderful. Because he's going to fall for the trap, and you can watch him die."

Sam sat up in the bed and looked at the demon, the fact that he was barely conscious was pushed to the side once more. He forced himself into a standing position, holding onto the bedpost. "Touch him, and I will kill you. You can't keep me trapped like this forever. "

"I could knock you over with a feather right now." He said. "And you threaten me? You are such a naive creature."

"You kill me, and you have someone else breathing down your neck." Sam said. "So yeah... I'm threatening you. It's not naive... it's arrogant." He said, then began to pray, not only for his own strength and Dean's safety, but because he knew it would hurt the demon. Might not get rid of him but it would sure as hell hurt.

Sam got backhanded for his trouble. "Shut up!" The demon hissed at him. "Shut your mouth." The prayers coming from Sam's mouth were vile and disgusting to him. Like unpleasantness crawling and scorching across his skin.

He smiled instead and wiped his mouth continuing :

"Soul of Christ, sanctify me. Body of Christ, save me. Blood of Christ, inebriate me. Water from the side of Christ, wash me. Passion of Christ, strengthen me. O good Jesus, hear me. Within Thy wounds hide me. Suffer me not to be separated from Thee. From the malignant enemy defend me. In the hour of my death call me. And bid me to come to Thee. That with Thy Saints I may praise Thee Forever and ever. Amen."

"I told you to shut up!" The demon screeched and started hitting Sam, over and over. Anything to stop the stream of pain coming from Sam's lips.

Sam kept getting up. Kept praying for as long as there was consciousness in him. He wanted the thing to kill him. Wanted the son of a bitch to end it. Dean could take this thing, but he couldn't take the yellow eyed demon. And if Sam had to be dead to keep his end of the deal, then so be it.

The demon stopped with a growl of frustration. Because killing Sam Winchester was against the rules. Dammit, he couldn't do it. Not if he wanted to live himself. So, satisfied he'd done enough damage for the time being, he slammed out of the room.

Sam pulled himself back onto the bed, and dialed Bobby's number, hoping against hope that the man had gotten through to Dean.

"Dean?!" Bobby said into the phone, not even checking the caller ID, because he'd left messages with Dean every five minutes to call. Hopefully he'd finally gotten through to the oldest Winchester son. "Oh, Sam." He said in disappointment. "I'm waiting for Dean, I got call waiting, don't worry. How are you holding up?"

"Not... not so good." Sam said honestly. "But you - you can't tell Dean that. They won't kill me. The bastard won't let them." Sam wasn't stupid. He had just underestimated the thing's self control.

Bobby sighed heavily. "Fine." He agreed. "Your brother is going to kill both of us when this is all over though." Whether here or in some sort of afterlife, Dean was definitely going to have his payback on them.

"Yeah well... if .. we give him what he wants... he won't have the chance to kill us." Sam said. "I'm tired, Bobby...I'm tired of fighting."

"Sam, giving up is the worst thing you could do." Bobby said, heatedly. Knowing if he did, Sam would go straight for Dean.

"I know... not giving up...just so tired, Bobby. I thought I had a chance.. but I don't. Really starting to regret that conversion." He said only part in jest.

"You do have a chance." Bobby said. "We're still working on it. Dean's spending every spare moment, and some that he can't, to try and figure this out. You should tell him about the deal." Bobby wouldn't, wasn't his place. And from him, Dean might think it was only a theory anyway.

"It won't stop the process." Sam said as he tried to find the least uncomfortable position possible. "It would just make him refuse to leave... he was so freaked out after Dad... "

"Yeah, he's got this concept that everyone else trading their life for his, and him not being allowed to reciprocate...he thinks it's a tad bit unfair." Bobby said.

"I'm the ... little brother. It's... in the job description to be selfish like that." Sam said and laughed breathily.

"Sam, don't pull that reasoning. He's the oldest brother, it's in his job description to protect you." Bobby said worriedly. "Sam, you're not all right. You need to get out of there somehow and get some help." Since he was steadfast against accepting it from Dean.

"Locked in." Sam said. "Won't kill me... just gotta stop Dean before he sees me... I can't lose him... at least the way things are, I know he's alive and as safe as he will let himself be."

"Which we all know isn't very safe at all." Bobby said with a sigh. "Kiddo, this isn't going to end well."

"I know." Sam said sounding very much like the child he used to be in that moment. "He doesn't deserve this Bobby. There has to be a way to stop him... something... anything... " he said, groaning as he forced himself to his feet again and going to the door to try opening it again.

"I'll try his phone again and see what I can do." Bobby said, tiredly. Who knew that a chance meeting with John Winchester all those years ago would put him in this spot right now?

"Thank you." Sam said then growled in frustration at the door. "I appreciate everything you've done." He said as he closed the cell phone.

Dean had had a bad day so far. Had to roll the tires back to the Impala, and four tires is never an easy chore. Some hoodlum tried to jump him, and he learned that wasn't the thing to do when Dean was in a bad mood. But he'd wasted time dealing with him when he could have been driving. Then he had to get the tires on the Impala But finally he arrived at the house outside Baton Rouge.

The door was locked. Big deal. Most doors fell easily enough with a hard enough kick and this one wasn't an exception. He knew, somehow he knew, his brother was upstairs so he ran up the stairs and started throwing open doors, opening one and nearly knocking his brother over.

His brother.

And he was a mess as Dean caught him. "Jesus, Sammy..." He said. His brother was one big bruised mess. And that was just what he could see. "Come on, let's get you out of here. You can yell at me later."

"Dean... it's a trap." Sam said clutching at Dean's jacket to steady himself, to actually feel his brother. He was here... he had come... and he was going to die because of it. He needed Dean, needed to feel that steady rock that his brother was in his life, but he had never been so afraid or full of despair in his life. "You have to go."

"Absolutely." Dean said. "So let's go. Shut up and concentrate on walking." Dean said as he supported most of his brother's weight. "Yeah, well, I told you in Chicago it was a trap, you came anyway. We're both kinda incapable of listening. I knew it was a trap, weird waitress I ran into." He said with a roll of his eyes. "Come on, Sammy, we gotta move."

"He's gonna kill you." Sam said as he let Dean lead him down the stairs. "I'm sorry, Dean." He said. "I tried." He would go... what difference would it make now? The demon would come for Dean, because the deal was broken... and in some ways, so was Sam. If ole yellow eyes killed Dean, there was no reason for him to fight anymore.

"Sam, don't worry about that now." Dean said. "There's nothing to be sorry for, come on, I'm gonna need some help getting you down the stairs, that's it, grab onto the railing." Dean said as he guided Sam slowly down the stairs. "Almost there. How many times have I told you to duck? I know you're freakishly tall and all, but dude, someone's punching you? Duck."

"He cheated. Used the wall... and the floor a lot. Hard to dodge those." Sam said. "Dean... I don't know where we can hide from him... " He couldn't just let it happen. He couldn't lose his brother.

"Sam, let me worry about that, okay?" Dean said. "Let's just get you down the stairs." They seemed a whole lot longer on the way down than they did on the way up, Dean mused to himself as he adjusted his grip on his brother. "Well, at least I know you've been eating okay."

Sam couldn't help but laugh at that, but there was an edge of hysteria to it. "Yeah, well, don't have you around stealing all my food." He attempted to tease. His eyes darted around, looking for any sign of the demon. He had to make this right some how. Had to find a way that that bastard wouldn't kill Dean. Sam wasn't the one that broke the deal. "Someone set us up Dean."

"Someone's always setting us up." Dean said. "You think we'd be used to this." He got to the final landing of the stairs, back on normal ground. "Come on, let's get out of here. I leave my car unattended for too long and the tires get slashed."

Sam stood at the base of the stairs and stared at his brother, wanting to say so much but unable to get the words past the lump in his throat. "If... if you go I might be able to talk him down." Sam said hating the weakness that welled in his eyes in the form of tears. Some demon he was going to be. Demon of girlish weeping.

"Hell no." Dean said. "Sam, let's go. Now. I'm not leaving you here in the hopes you can talk him down or whatever. Who knows what he'll do. Let's go."

Sam let Dean move him toward the door. "He's going to kill you." Sam said, pausing by the door once more. "I'll be alright. He doesn't want me dead."

"No, he wants you worse than dead." Dean said as he grabbed his brother's arm. "Don't argue, I'm tired, I'm hungry and I'm a little pissed right now. We're going."

Sam couldn't argue with that comment. It was true. Losing his soul would be worse than death. "Yeah but that's not what I'm worried about at the moment. Dean... " He said as he went out the door with his brother.

"You always worry too much." Dean said with a shake of his head as they headed out the door to the Impala. Ma and Pa Demon were waiting for them, no longer having the neutral but benevolent expressions on their faces as they raised guns at Sam.

Dean didn't think. He just acted on instinct, what he would always do in this situation. It would always happen like this, whether it was a bullet or spitball. The gun went off. At Sam. And Dean threw himself in the path, knocking Sam over, and getting winged himself. Well, he'd call it getting winged anyway.

"No!" Sam screamed out, rage, fear and something darker he couldn't put a name to erupted to the surface and through what ever was blocking his abilities. The demons were flung backwards, as Sam scrambled to his feet, the role reversing suddenly as it so often had in the past as he pulled his brother to the Impala. "Dean, talk to me."

"Okay. Get off me." Dean said as he shrugged his brother off and made it into the driver's seat of the Impala. Exhaling raggedly and holding his left side under his jacket with his right hand. "Okay, well, we got out of the farm house." He said.

"Head for town. I have a motel room there. I'll take a look at that wound when we get there. " Sam told him, Dean's health being foremost in his mind at the moment. "How bad is it?"

"It's fine." Dean said tightly as he drove into town. "I could make it back to Corpus easily." He said. "Small caliber." It wasn't gushing blood at least. That was always a good sign.

"Dean... go to the hotel. I have my stuff there if nothing else. And I want to look at that thing before we even think about getting into a road trip."

"Fine." Dean said, not arguing. He got his brother into the car, after all. "Dude, you gotta start hanging out with better people though." He teased as he followed his brother's instructions to the hotel.

Sam actually laughed at that. "I came here to perform an exorcism, but it was ... well... a trap. Oh crap, Bobby!" He said and fished in his pocket for his cell phone. "I've had him trying to stop you from the moment I realized they were trying to kill you." He dialed Bobby's number and waited.

"Yeah, trying to kill me. That's why I'm the one driving." Dean said with a roll of his eyes as Bobby answered.

"I've left more messages for that bastard in one day than I've ever left for any one else combined." Bobby grumbled. "He's not answering, Sam."

"He's here... driving." Sam said, and all the worry he felt was in his voice. "They shot him and he is driving."

"That sounds exactly like your brother." Bobby said. "Okay, well, get him somewhere to patch him up if you can't talk him into going to a hospital. He's no longer wanted after all."

"Dude, I can hear you." Dean said as he drove. "No hospitals. They have to report gun shot wounds."

"I'll get him patched up... It's gonna get ugly, Bobby. In case we don't... well... thanks for everything, man." He didn't see how the demon was going to let this slip but he would die fighting if he had to, in order to keep him off of his brother as long as possible.

"I'll see you both soon." Bobby said as he hung up.

"Dude, those freaks were shooting at you, not me." Dean pointed out as he got to the hotel and put the car in park. "I know you're paranoid and all, but they weren't trying to kill me. They were trying to off you."

"They aren't the ones I am worried about. Come on. You're not driving if you don't come in and let me look you over. So turn off the car and come on." He said getting out of the car and moving to wait at the front of the car for signs of Dean moving.

Dean sighed. He had finally found a comfortable spot and now he had to give it up. But he turned off the car and pocketed the keys as he carefully got out. "It's a flesh wound, Sammy." He said. "But fine. Let's go."

"Last time you had a flesh wound you wound up in the hospital." Given Dean's definition of fine and flesh wound, Sam had a right to worry. He unlocked his hotel room door and looked around inside before letting his brother into the room. He went straight for the first aid kit he carried with him still and set it on the bed, opening it. "Go ahead and get out of that shirt."

"You're a pain in my ass." Dean said with a scowl as he shrugged off his jacket, throwing it onto a nearby chair. Followed with the flannel. And finally, carefully, pulled his tshirt off over his head and grabbed a handful of gauze, pressing it to his side. "See, hardly bleeding. Ruined the shirt though. I liked that shirt."

Sam looked at the jacket and the shirt and frowned, pausing in his salting of the doorway. "Turn around." He said, not seeing an exit hole in the clothing. "Dean... turn around."

"Fine, Sam, it's still in there." Dean said, knowing what Sam was going at. "Happy?" He said as he went through the mini fridge. "I'm fine. I got a while to figure out what to do about it. Not like this is the first time I've ever been shot."

"What to do about it? We get you to a frigging hospital and get it out of there, tha'ts what we do about it." Sam said emphatically.

"Dude, they're required to report gunshot wounds to the police." Dean said as he cleaned out the wound. It hurt like hell, and he wanted to lay down and go to sleep, so he sat down instead. "You want to explain how I got shot? And even if we made up a story, it would still be investigated. No go."

"Then we get you medicated and I go in and get it out myself because you can't carry that thing around inside you." He started looking through his first aid kit, taking out what he would need. "The one in the impala stocked? I haven't been needing anything this serious for a while now. " He looked over at Dean worriedly. There were too many ways this could go wrong.

"Yeah, it's stocked." Dean said, getting up and tossing Sam the keys. "In the trunk where it always is. So how out of practice with the serious stuff are you? I mean, Jack's an EMT, you could drive back with me and have him give you a refresher course."

"EMT huh, thought he was a business major... but yeah... we could make it to Corpus easily enough, but I am driving." He said. "Go get cleaned up while I get the kit. We'll get it patched up for now and you medicated then get out of here." He said as he headed out the door quickly.

Sam didn't know how long they had before the Demon would make his appearance, and he needed his brother in the best health possible for that fight. They had only escaped him once before and they had the colt then. Now they might as well be completely unarmed.

Dean was surprised his brother had agreed so readily, but he wasn't going to argue as he brought the peroxide into the bathroom with him, getting a head start on cleaning the wound so they could get out of there quicker.

When Sam returned, Dean was still in the bathroom, but the room wasn't empty.

"I warned you." The demon said, wearing a desk clerk for the moment.

Sam's blood ran cold. "You set this up. I didn't go looking for him. You're people made it so that I couldn't get out of there before he got there. This isn't my fault... I didn't break our agreement." He said, his voice tinged with fear, not its usual arrogant John impersonation that he saved for the demon.

"Sam?" Dean said, rattling the door knob. He couldn't get out, and he heard two voices out there. One of which was scaring his brother, he could tell that from his voice. "Sam! Get out of here."

"Yes, Sam. Get out of here. Leave your brother to me. It will be painless." The demon said, a slow grin spreading across his face.

"No." Sam said. "You... no you can't kill him, I won't let you. This isn't his fault. I didn't mean for this to happen. Leave him alone." Sam said as he moved toward the bathroom door, having no intention of letting the demon get past him to his brother.

"Sam, get out of here, dammit!" Dean shouted through the door.

"Are you asking to renew our deal?" The demon asked, eyes glimmering with satisfaction.

"No... I'm asking my father, not to kill my brother." Sam said in a haunted, resigned tone. "Please... I'm going to change no matter what... please don't kill him."

A thud could be heard as Dean sat down hard on the tiled floor at that one. "Sam! Dammit no!" He said through the door. Like the wind had been knocked out of him and someone was pouring salt into the hole in his gut.

The demon's face split into a wide smile at that. "Very well." He agreed. "But we both leave. Now."

Sam turned to face the door, knowing his brother was right there on the other side. "I ahm... love you, man. I'm alright... I'll be alright... just.." tears filled his eyes, "we can't do this again... No matter what we want." He walked away from the door and grabbed his bags as yet unpacked. "I'm going." Sam said looking up at the demon. "But I'm not going with you." He indicated the door. "You first."

"Such distrust." The demon said with a smirk as he tried not to laugh at the increased pounding and shouting from Dean. "You first. You can go where you can see him drive away, if you must. As long as there is no contact. But I'm the one ensuring that door doesn't open too soon. Or we can go together."

"I'll be watching." Sam said as he stepped into the shadows, and moved to a place where he could make sure his brother left the hotel in the same condition he arrived in.

The demon disappeared shortly after, and the door Dean had been pounding on flew open, dumping him onto the floor with a stifled gasp of pain as he quickly rolled over onto his back and took a few deep, ragged breaths, holding his side. "Sam, no dammit. Why don't you ever listen?" He said to the ceiling. Then made himself get up. Sam was no where around, and his bags were gone. Just Dean's first aid kit. So he popped a painkiller and bandaged his side again and looked out the window. He couldn't see anything or anyone that he was looking for, and he kicked a chair across the room in response.

Then he got into the Impala and headed back to Corpus. Because the trail for Sam had gone cold, again. He was back to square one, again.

The drive back seemed a lot shorter than the drive to, but the Impala also didn't suffer from any mechanical difficulties either. He sat in his friveway for a moment and had to recenter himself. The note of finality in Sam's voice was ripping him apart. Along with calling that thing 'father.' That thing was not his father.

But he managed to get back out of the car, up his few short front steps and into his house. Badly needing a nap. He'd call Jack later. Maybe.

Chavi looked up as Dean came in and smiled brightly at him. "I came by to pick up your mail and your uncle was waiting outside for you. I didn't know you had an uncle." She said.

A man looking for all the world like John Winchester raised his head and smiled winningly, a dimpled smile so like Sam's. "Your girlfriend's a real charmer there, Dean."

"Neither did I." Dean said. He really didn't need this. At all. "Get out." He said to the man who looked like his father. Who looked like his father for the sole purpose of getting under Dean's skin. And you know what? It was working.

"No... not yet." He said as he got to his feet. "We have a few things to work out. My boy is worried about you. " The demon locked gazes with Dean, not caring that Chavi was in the room or what she might overhear. "Ironic don't ya think? You killed my son to save Sam... and now Sam is mine."

"Chavi, get out of here." Dean said, not taking his eyes off the demon as his face filled with cold rage. "And Sammy is not yours. Get that thought out of your head, and then leave my fucking house. I heard you, you're not supposed to hurt little old me, or you'll piss Sammy right off."

"I'm not here to hurt ya, Dean." He said. "I'm here to keep a promise." He said. "Finish something I started a while ago." He slammed Dean against the wall, large hand pressing against the wound in his side, slowly, intentionally so, pulling the bullet.

Dean screamed. It was like being shot in reverse, or having the wound vaccumed. Didn't tickle as he started chanting the prayer of St Michael Pastor Jim had taught him. Something that after his encounter with another priest called Reynolds that he remembered. The patron saint of demon hunters, at least as far as Dean was concerned.

Chavi looked around for a second, then grabbed the salt canister, saying a few words in her native language that her grandmother had taught her then moved quickly. The demon was distracted by the prayer, and she seized the opportunity to dump the contents down the thing's back. It wouldn't kill it, but it would get it off of Dean ... she hoped.

And was rewarded by a scream of pain and indignation as it whirled around to face her. "You don't want to get involved in this, little girl. In fact... you would be wise to run home to grandma and forget all about this loser. "

Dean slumped to the floor once the demon released him, but forced himself back up to his feet and stumbled to between the demon and Chavi. "Get out. This is my house, my life, and my girl. You've got my brother for the time being. That's enough."

"For the time being? He's mine just like your daddy was mine. All signed sealed and delivered by his own hand... just for you. Doesn't that just make you feel all warm and fuzzy? Hell if I know what they see in you that makes you worth it. But what the hell, you don't want my help, not my problem." He said with a slow smile and faded away into nothingness.

"Dean? Are you alright? " Chavi asked. "What did he do to you?"

"That thing took my brother and killed my parents. No, I'm not all right." Dean said in frustration. Frustration at himself, that he was unable to stop any of this. "I'm gonna...I don't know. Take a shower, catch a nap. I can't believe this. That thing had the audacity to wear my father's form for this. God I wish I could kill him."

"Dean, you're bleeding." She said as she tried to direct him over toward the sofa. "You can take a nap after Jack has looked this over. What happened? " She asked grabbing the phone with her free hand.

Dean looked down. "Oh, that. It's not bad." He said. Because for once he just wanted to curl up in his bed and wallow. He'd work on Sam later. After he wallowed for a moment. Get the bullet dug out. After he wallowed for just a moment. "It's almost stopped." He lied. "Look, I'm fine, okay? I get that you're worried, but I am fine. See? Walking, talking, breathing. Fine."

She looked up at him sharply, grey eyes latching on to green ones. "That's an anagram, you know." She told him. "Now you listen to me, Dean Winchester, I am not putting up with this shit. I didn't let myself fall in love with you to just sit back and watch you commit suicide by demon."

"Fine. I took a bullet for Sam. Small caliber, left side three inches below my ribs. Happy? I sure ain't! Because the demon has my brother anyway." Dean said. "And I'm not committing suicide, I don't have time to deal with this," he said, gesturing to his side, "right now." Wouldn't be the first time he'd had a bullet wound and gone after his brother anyway. All thoughts of wallowing were gone.

"You don;t have time not to deal with this." She dialed Jack's number and waited for him to answer. "I'm sorry that Sam is still in the same danger he was when you left to go find him. I truly am. Especially seeing what was just here in your living room. But you aren't going to do him any good with an untreated bullet wound in your stomach."

"With a what??" Jack demanded having over heard that much of the conversation as he answered. "Are you at his place?"

"Huh? Yeah." Chavi said, momentarily derailed.

"On my way." Jack said and hung up.

"He is on his way. I want you to let him take care of you."

"Oh. Okay. That sounds like fun." Dean said. "Except for the part where, oh I don't know, this is MY house. Don't get that look on your face, I distinctly remember asking you to move in, only to get put off with the 'it's not the right time' spiel. So, this still makes this MY house. And I'm going to take a shower. Then I'm going to hit the books and the computer and find my fucking brother before he gets himself into another mess. So you can meet Jack at the front door. And you can tell him you freaked him out over nothing because I'm fine. I said I'm fine. Why does no one believe me when I say that?" He said, sitting down in front of his computer. Because, dammit, as much as he didn't want to admit it, he needed to sit as he grabbed a tshirt he'd left on the couch. Shook it out, it wasn't one of his favorites, so he balled it right back up and pressed it against his side, hard. Stifling a groan as he did so, waiting for his computer to boot up.

"Your house." She said. "Fine it's your house. It's your body. It's your life. But if you ever want to share any of those things with me again... you will damned well start to take care of yourself. Because I can't do this, Dean. I can't sit here and watch you bleed all over yourself when you don't have to. I can deal with you getting hurt, but I can't deal with... with this... with this attitude that you don't fucking matter because guess what, you big jerk, you matter. You have family right here that cares about you... and unless I misunderstood that little interaction there... Sam cares about you too. So get over the macho routine and start caring about yourself... because Damn it I love you and I don't want to walk away... but I will."

She had his attention. Chavi wasn't a big user of curse words, at least not the English ones. So he stood up and peeled off his ruined shirt and tossed it over a chair, flopping down on a couch to wait for Jack. "Fine." He said. "I'm fine, but whatever. Fine." He kept the tshirt pressed to his side so he wouldn't bleed all over his furniture. Truthfully, he wasn't big on furniture, but Chavi was the one that dragged him to a store to get actual furniture that actual people had. And it was a great, supportive couch, he'd give it that. Then he grinned at her, the Dean grin that most thought should really come with a warning label. "So you love me, huh?" He said. "Just remember I said it first." A month ago, completely slipped out unintentionally.

She returned the smile and sank down on the floor in front of him, relieved that he was going to let Jack take care of that wound, relieved that she wouldn't have to follow through on that threat of walking out on him.

"So you did" She said and rested her hand on his knee. She let the argument drop. She knew that she wasn't going to be able to change the only thing about him she wanted to change with one argument. You can't argue someone into caring about themselves. But he was at least going to let Jack help him. That was progress.

Jack opened the door and came in with out so much as a knock. "How the hell did you get shot?" He asked setting the massive trauma kit down on the floor next to Chavi.

"Hi Jack. How are you? How about them Knicks? The weather's been great too." Dean said as he carefully pulled away the tshirt from his side. "Uh...well, they were going to shoot Sam, so I tackled him and got winged." He said. "I drove for seven hours with this, so obviously nothing major has been hit. Guess it's my lucky day. You know, except for a demon inviting himself into my home wearing Dad. That part kinda sucked."

"So... where's Sam?" He asked as he started to examine the wound more closely. "Never mind, let me guess, he took off again" Jack opened the trauma kit and started to take out several tools. "Get me a few towels please." He asked Chavi who got up and headed toward the linen closet.

"Sam made a deal. The demon doesn't kill me, and Sam doesn't come near us." Dean said through clenched teeth. "So, again, another Winchester makes a deal with him for my life. Dad, my life for his. Sam, my life for his soul. Makes a guy feel really good." He said and winced as Jack prodded it. "But, hey, she loves me. Day can't be all bad, right?"

Jack checked Dean's vital signs and assured himself that Dean wasn't bleeding out internally, which was by all rights a small miracle. "Go ahead and lay down." He said. "I'm gonna have to get that bullet out of there." He said. "She loves you huh... you sure she's sane?"

"You sure? It's kinda warm and comfy in there." Dean said as he slowly brought his legs up and laid down with a grimace. "Yeah, she's insane. So am I, so I guess it's okay. You've been saying I'm insane for months now. I asked her to move in before I left to find Sam, like, a month ago. She said no. So that was weird."

"Love and moving in are two different things. I mean... Kaylie and I don't officially live together yet either." He said as Chavi brought the towels for Jack. He took out the morphine and prepared the syringe. "Here we go." He said as he injected the opiate subcutaneously, then broke open a iodine sponge and began to clean around the wound.

"Ow...easy there, cowboy." Dean said as Jack fished out the bullet. "Yeah, well, you two live with your parents." He said and shook his head. "Wow, I feel like I'm back in Chicago again." He said with a laugh. "So if I ask again, is this another one of those 'not a good time' times?" He asked Chavi.

"It's a good time." She said with a smile. "Unless it's the drugs talking, but it's too late now since you asked and I said yes."

"This thing wasn't as deep in as I thought it would be." He plopped the bullet down onto the lid of his case, the started work cleaning out the wound and then stitching it up. "Antibiotics, lortab, and rest. And if you don't rest I will come over and sit on you, which won't be pleasant."

"Dude, you need a new hobby." Dean said as his brother stitched him up. But he wasn't in a complaining mood. Sam still weighed heavily on his mind, so much so that it was nearly crushing.

But he was also completely high on morphine, and the woman he loved more than his own life had just agreeed to take another step with him. Tomorrow he could start on the path to Sam again. When he wasn't high and bleeding at any case.

It had been a few months, but Bobby finally found Sam's new number. During a brief conversation with Father Pavel, who was still in Rome. So he called Sam.

"Sam, can you come over to my place? I got something you should watch. I promise, Dean isn't here." Bobby said.

"Sure, I'll be right there." Sam said as he hung up. And within moments he was knocking on Bobby's door, a 12 pack of his favorite beer in hand.

Bobby opened the door with a genuine smile. "Didn't think you'd come." He said as he moved aside to let Sam in. "You're a hard man to get a hold of these days, you know. I've been trying to get a hold of you for a few months now."

"I was keeping a low profile for a while. Came too close to losing him last time I got careless." Sam said. It was good to hear a familiar voice. Something to remind him of who he used to be. "So what have you got to show me?"

"I've been holding onto this for months. Even rented a boob tube." Bobby said. "Then I couldn't get a hold of you, and the rental place made me buy the damn thing." He said as he led Sam into his living room, which he had cleared of any potentially uncomfortable material just for this visit. Then he found the one video tape he had and popped it into the VCR. "Your brother got married a few months ago. So we taped it so you could see it, since well, you know."

Sam looked at Bobby in shock. "Married?" He asked, a grin spreading across his face. "Thats great!" He said sincerely. Dean was married. He was happy and settled into a real life. "What's she like?" He asked as he took a seat.

"Yup, married." Bobby said as the tape started to play. "She's a firecracker, no doubt. Not that your brother would actually settle down with anyone less than that. She's pretty, but you'll see. She makes her entrance about five minutes into the video. They had the wedding and reception at a hotel. He seems happy."

"Oh god he does... look at him, he can't stand still." Sam said grinning ear to ear to match his brother on the tape. Thinking he looked for all the world like Tigger in a tux.

Bobby chuckled. "I bet that thing itched." He said as he watched Dean pull a bit at the collar on the screen. "Here's the wedding processional. Flower girl, some daughter of a girl Chavi worked with. Cute little kid, absolute terror at the reception. Bridesmaids, for once safe from Dean, much to the delight of their boyfriends. Maid of honor, you remember Kaylie? Dean mentioned you met her once. She goes with your other brother. And that's Chavi."

"She's beautiful." Sam said watching as they all lined up, watching the look of terror, and overwhelming happiness that covered his brother's face as she started down the aisle, the look that settled into a peaceful look of nothing but love. The look that said in that moment, Dean was where he needed and wanted to be. Because his world was standing right before his eyes.

"Yeah, she is." Bobby said. "Course, she's also Roma, so you can imagine how well Dean went over with her parents. Which is why Ben gave her away, because her father told her she was dead. Nice guy. Thought Dean was going to shoot him there for a moment. Never thought I'd live to see the day when Dean of all men got married."

Sam laughed a little. "Isn't it usually the father of the girl wanting to shoot Dean, not the other way around?" He asked. "I knew if he could stay in one place long enough... after meeting Cassie I knew it was something he wanted even if he would never admit it. I'm glad he finally got the chance. He deserves it. "

"So what have you been up to? Haven't heard anything from you over the last few months." Bobby said as the ceremony played out. "You're a hard man to get a hold of."

"I've been keeping to myself, taking on the occasional exorcism, but mostly just moving. I keep moving. It's harder for him to track me down if I am always moving. "

It was ironic, really. All Sam had ever wanted was what his brother now had. Their lives had juxtaposed some where along the way and Sam was happy. No one deserved that dream more than Dean. He had sacrificed so much of himself so often.

"And how are you holding up?" Bobby asked. This video was proof that Dean had recovered from the last time he had seen his brother. The bullet was taken care of, and physically Dean was no worse for wear. Sam on the other hand, Bobby didn't know.

"I'm not." Sam said honestly. "I'm trying to hold it all together, but some days it's like I'm flying apart. Then I'm... okay for a while. I'm not giving up though." It was easier to say that, seeing his brother happy. Alive, well. "The demon is right... it's Dean holding me together. "

"Which is probably why he's always gone after Dean to get to you." Bobby said, shaking his head. He was afraid any reversal of this process that was happening to Sam would come too late. And that would kill them both. "Now we're headed to the reception. Jack got drunker than a skunk, I think he forgot his own name there for a while."

Sam laughed. "He always struck me as a bit of a light weight." But then few people packed away the booze like hunters. And fewer still could do it and stay functional enough to survive. "But they look like they've bonded." He said watching as his brothers teased each other, and he couldn't help but feel a twinge of jealousy, of loss and regret. No matter how much he wanted to see exactly what he was seeing between the two men on screen.

"Of course they did." Bobby said, casting a sidelong look at Sam. "You made sure of that, didn't you? But you're still his Sammy. He dropped everything when he got that lead on you to chase you down."

"I know. I'm glad that Dean has Jack. He'd... be lost with out a little brother to annoy... torment... scare the hell out of." Sam said. "I miss him." Sam admitted. "But not as much as I would if the demon... see...I'm a selfish bastard just like Dad. " He shook his head. "Hindsight, insight and understanding... seriously all a bitch."

"It usually is. So what do you now understand about your daddy in hindsight that you didn't before?" Bobby asked. Knowing the two Winchesters hadn't been on the best of terms when John had died.

"He knew..." Sam said simply, quietly. "He knew what was going to happen... did what he thought he had to do no matter how much it hurt him or us... he was trying to get that bastard before it came to this." He shook his head. "It wasn't vengeance, or grief for Mom... he was wanting to stop this from happening." He downed the beer thinking when he went home he was definitely going to need something stronger.

"And now, where does that leave you, Sam?" Bobby asked. Always able to point out the hard parts. "Now that the bastard has manipulated events in such a way to get you where he thinks he wants you...where does that leave you? A borderline sociopath like your Dad could be so easily and so well?"

"Most days, yeah." Sam admitted. "All I have left ... that I can touch... is the hunt. I saw a girl that I used to know, not long ago. Sarah... she was part of one of our hunts. Had to do with a painting." Sam said. "God I wanted to stay and pretend that I was the same man I used to be, but I couldn't. I'm not. I'm not really like Dad either. He would have handled this better... well... more successfully anyway. He had a gift for making people want to leave him the hell alone."

"And you can't even shake off your brother." Bobby said. "Or me or Pavel for that matter. You've got people on your side whether you want to see it or not."

"I see it. Don't think for a moment that I don't. But it scares me, Bobby. This isnt just any Demon... I had this vision once... while I was trying not to drown... and I think this is one of Lucifer's princes of hell. Literally. This isn't something any of us can stop... although Pavel gave it a moment or two of fear." He sighed and rubbed at his face. "Everyone that can turn me away from it... he kills or takes away from me. Being on my side isn't a safe place to be."

"But it's where we want to be." Bobby said with a nod as he watched the festivities on the screen. Even though this was undoubtably the happiest day of Dean's life, his eyes were still tinged with a bit of sadness that his brother wasn't there. No, there was no where else Dean would be than on Sam's side.

Sam wished he could be there, more than anything he wished he could have shared in his brother's happiness. But he took comfort in the fact that there would have been no happiness to be shared with anyone if he hadn't left. Even with out the demon intervention, they would have continued on the road, hunting down evil, and sacrificing any life they could have had for people that couldn't care less.

"I know... Just... don't do anything stupid for my sake. Pointless to tell Dean that, but you... you're smarter than the average Bear, Bobby. Don't get hurt fighting a battle that can't be won."

"Well, we have different definitions of win I think. You get to be my age, kid, and you start accepting the little victories. You and your brother, you're still thinking of the war as a battle." Bobby said. "But he's doing as well as he can. He sends me pictures, I think he knows I show them to you. This is the latest batch." He said, handing Sam an envelop of pictures.

Sam smiled and opened the envelope. "These are great." He said looking through them. Glimpses into his brother's life, his home, his work, his friends. Then there was one that took his breath away. "They're gonna have a baby." He said softly, eyes misting and smile broadening. "Dean's gonna be a daddy."

"That he is." Bobby agreed with a nod. "Which could be a sign of the apocalypse if you listen to Ellen. Me? I think he'll be good at it. Had enough practice on you. Now at least he knows that soda and cotton candy is NOT an appropriate dinner."

"no matter how hard I tried to convince him otherwise" sam said with a grin. "wow... Dean is gonna be a Dad... " He couldnt help but remember his childhood. Thoughts of Dean teaching him all the things his father couldn't or wouldnt take time for. All the nights he had sat and helped him with his homework, held him when he woke screaming with nightmares. "He's gonna be good at it. He always was."


	14. Chapter 14

A/N: We've come to the end of this part of the Journey, but their story is far from over. This chapter is intense, and emotional from start to finish. I hope everyone enjoys the saga, and that you will join us for the next part of the story as well. Please read and review, this is our baby and we like to know that she is appreciated

SPNSPNSPN

Bobby sighed after he hung up the phone. This was the worst thing that could have happened. There was nothing to fight, nothing to do. But he had to pass the phone call on.

"Sam, it's Bobby." He said, his voice missing the usual amused undercurrent it had. "It's time to come home."

Sam sighed. "You know I can't do that." He said, wondering if he shouldn't chance cell phones now. He knew the end was coming. Could feel it. Even he could sense the changes. And if he couldn't, the demons he fought did. "It's too late for that."

"Sammy, you need to come home. You need to go to Texas and you need to go now. It's Chavi." The sister in law he had never met, but heard about from Bobby's update calls.

"What about her? If it's the baby, I don't think she will want a ... me there to curse its first breaths." He knew that his sister in law would have trouble dealing with what Sam was, even if Dean was insistent that there was nothing wrong with his brother. "Neither is she going to thank me for getting her husband killed by angry demons."

"She's not going to thank you at all." Bobby said and poured himself another shot, tossing it back before continuing. "She, ah, she went into labor yesterday. Gave birth to a girl, eight pounds three ounces. Jack tells me she has dark hair like her mother."

"Wait... Jack told you?" Sam asked with a frown, even deeper than that one he habitually wore now. "Where's Dean? Even if he got drunk as a skunk to celebrate he would be the one to call you. What's happened?" His tone was sharp, demanding, but there was an undercurrent of fear there. Something Sam hadn't felt in a long while. Something he didn't like feeling again.

"She...ah...started bleeding. They couldn't stop it and they lost her. Dean lost her." Bobby said. "And he's...he's really not doing too good. I'm on my way down there, and I want to see your face there, got it?"

"If I go.. .they will kill him." Sam said. "They will torture him to death, and nothing I can do will stop it. Do you want me to make that child an orphan?"

Bobby sighed. "Sam. Your brother needs you. Now. He's never asked anything from you. You need to do this."

"Have you not heard a word that I have said, Bobby?" He asked, almost condescendingly... almost. "You want me to completely destroy him? Show up there and have them murder his daughter in front of him... maybe take out Jack too for good measure, then rip the flesh from his body just to spite me? They will do it. He will do it himself and I can't take him on yet. I don't have that strength. I can't protect them if I go."

"Sam, listen to yourself." Bobby said. "If you don't go, you'll never forgive yourself. It will eat at you. It'll eat at him. You need to go and support your brother because he needs all the support he can get. Remember your father? Remember what grief did to him? Except for Dean, there's nothing to fight. Nothing to hunt."

"Fine. I'll go... But you be ready. So help me you be ready to fight what ever comes because it will come. Because it's on both of our heads what happens." Sam hung up and started to pack. He had long since given up traveling. He didn't need to drive now. It was something he did for pleasure and to avoid the strange looks when he brought home grocieries. He packed a couple changes of clothing, all black. Appropriate for going to a funeral, threw on his long coat and put the shades on over his eyes. They color changed so rapidly, he never took them off if anyone was with him. Too many questions.

He stepped into the shadows, and focused on his brother. He didn't need to have knowledge of where he was going now. Not if he had something else to focus on. He stepped out and looked around him.

Kaylie noticed the movement out of the corner of her eye in the kitchen, where she was dealing with the food everyone brought. Jack was dealing with the masses. Ben, he wasn't there. Too many memories for him, she supposed. Dean, he wasn't up to dealing with anyone. Hadn't spoken a word. But she turned quickly as the shadow moved and nearly dropped the cassarole dish.

"Sam?" She asked, putting the dish down before she broke it.

"Where is he?" He asked taking some of the edge out of his tone. The girl didn't deserve it. Hell she deserved a medal for staying with a Winchester this long. Even one raised by someone else.

She sighed and nodded. "The nursery. Go through that door, through the living room, take a left. Second door on the right. If you hit the bathroom, you've gone too far." She said. At least he'd come.

Sam followed the directions through his brother's home. Ignoring the stares, especially those from Jack. The boy didn't understand. Hell Dean couldn't even understand and he was grateful for that. Understanding came from far too much intimate knowledge. He didn't want either of his brothers to understand any of it. Jack stared after him and almost followed but was stopped by yet another well wisher looking for Dean.

A woman came out of the bathroom and stopped near the nursery door. "Last chance to call this a bad idea and go home, Exorcist."

Sam removed his glasses and stared at her with unnaturally purple eyes and smiled slowly. "I don't have time for you." Sam said. "You can exit that body you are in, and go some place else and have a merry old time, or I can make you wish you had never crawled out of hell to begin with. Either way you aren't going any closer to my brother than right there."

"You can't stop us until after we've done what we want." She said with an eerily sweet smile. "Poor, poor Dean. At least he has his daughter, right? We wouldn't want anything to happen to the baby, now would we? It would...why it would kill him. Especially if you did it."

Sam sighed in absolute boredom, and the shadows in the hall way darkened. He reached out and touched the arm of the woman, taking her into the shadows with him. "I'll be back to deal with you when I am done here. If I remember." He said stepping out of the shadows and back into the light. "I really hate stupid demons." He muttered as he opened the door to the nursury and entered. "Dean." He said quietly, seeing his brother seated in the rocking chair, staring ahead, looking at nothing, and reminding him so much of his father in that moment that it tore at what was left of his heart.

"She's sleeping." Dean said softly. "We had planned on naming her Mary, after, well..." His voice faded off as he took another drink from the bottle. "We name people after dead people. That's messed up. A celebration of death if you ask me."

"Nothing wrong with celebrating people after they are gone." Sam said as he approached his brother, looking over at the sleeping infant, amazed at how small and fragile new life really was. He looked around the room and sighed softly, going to lay the lines of brick and salt at the windows, and the nursery door. "I think Mom would like that. Well... what would I know about Mom."

"Already did it, Sam." Dean said. "The line at the door might be disturbed, but the windows, even the closet door is fine. I'm not an idiot." Which was why the demon Sam encountered in the hall was in the hall. And not laying a 'comforting' hand on Dean's shoulder. "At least I can do that right."

"Sorry. I just got rid of an unexpected guest out in the hall. Wanted to be sure." It was hard to see the lines with the glasses on, but he didn't want Dean to see his eyes. Not now. "There will be more coming because I am here. I shouldnt have endangered you two this way... but... Bobby said you were in a bad way."

"And what do you think? Wasted trip? Missing some Moonlighting reruns or something. Didn't mean to put you out, interrupt your life. You know, how dare she die and inconvenience you like that." Dean said with a snort and finished the bottle. "Dammit."

"Damn it, Dean... I don't want to get you killed. The fucking yellow eyed bastard said he would finish what he started if I so much as spoke to you again." Sam said, letting a little genuine emotion come through. "And considering there was one waiting outside the door there telling me it was my last chance to turn back and keep you safe I think I was right to be concerned."

"Yeah, well, they're welcome to try." A large part of him wanted a fight. Wanted something to fight. He looked at Sam then. He was still in the same clothes he had worn when Chavi went into labor. His face was streaked with grief and fatigue, he hadn't shaved. His eyes were red, and still filled with tears yet to be shed. He'd shed plenty already. "So then why are you here, Sam?" He asked. "You hate me that much?"

"Bobby told me your wife had died... and that you needed me. I guess he was wrong and I am just making this worse." He shook his head. He knew he shouldn't have come. "So ahm... before I go since I am so obviously not welcome... understandably so I guess... Just... wow... okay. Never mind. You know what it doesn't matter. I will just go and leave you to your wallowing, and your crawling into the bottle. Too bad too... kid could have used a father. Looks like she is just gonna get another John."

"I had a bachelor party. It was pretty kick ass. Except you weren't there. My wedding was probably the happiest day of my life, except you weren't there. Found out she was pregnant, I told everyone. Except you, because you weren't there. The good milestones. Now, when a part of me wants to die, you're here. Except not really." Dean said, leaning back in the chair and staring at the ceiling. "Except to tell me how I must be like Dad, crawling into a bottle and trying to block everything out because my wife died thirty six hours ago. And I'm supposed to take it well. Like you took Jess so well."

"Didn't say you had to take it well." Sam said. "Last time I saw that look it was on Dad's face while you were dying the second time. Hours later he is dead on the ground without so much as a good bye. Hey Sam stop yelling at me and go get some coffee while you're at it.Guess it beats the final words you got really. Shouldn't complain about it, I suppose." He shook his head. "It's the same look he had on his face every time he started toying with that damned wedding ring or their anniversary or hell any time he wasn't yelling at me or killing something come to think of it. So yeah, you remind me of Dad right now. " He walked away from the crib, not wanting to look at her, not wanting to draw the attention of anything to her any more than he already had. "And yeah I kinda figured you wouldn't want your wedding invaded by demon hoardes. But what the hell, I obviously don't care about you. Cleared your name, kept the demons off your ass long enough to find a real life. Stayed away to keep you safe. nah... no caring there." If he didn't care, he would have thrown the deal in his face. He was surprised that he hadn't lashed out with it. Surprised that there was enough humanity left in him to care. "So tell me Dean, what really bothers you about my being back? The fact that I was gone when you were happy, or the fact that you know I won't let you eat a bullet once they put her in the ground?"

"She's being cremated." Dean said softly. "Her parents are fighting me on that, the little they do talk to me. Or scream at me is the better word. Sorry I'm not in the mood to entertain you right now. Trying to hold onto what's left of my heart, I guess. Because eventually I have to out there, even if it's just to take a piss. You saw them all, right? They're all wondering, pestering Jack, wondering when I'm going to come out. All hovering around me, waiting for me to do something. They're all waiting for me to cry, scream, flip out, break something. All that pressure. And I'll be happy to say the lines, do whatever it is that will make everyone feel more comfortable. But I just want to go back, to when things were normal. When I wasn't poor Dean hiding in his daughter's nursery. Poor Dean with the dead wife. But I am, so I can't. But I don't know how to be this person." Said one of the world's greatest conmen when he wanted to be. "I don't know this person."

"I don't need you to entertain me. I don't need you to be anyone but who you are. Even if you don't know who that is anymore." Sam told him. "You know what... grab the baby. I'm getting you out of here for a while " He said as he went to pick up diaper bag, peeking in it to make sure there was stuff there. It was sunrise somewhere in the world. It was still early enough in the day. Dean needed a few moments of peace. And that was the only time Sam had been able to find it.

"But what about all my guests?" Dean said, with a little of his old sardonic humor returning to his voice, if only for a moment. But he got out of the rocking chair and picked the baby up, all swaddled up in a colorful blanket. "Oh they're really going to let me have it now. I'm walking out of my own shiva for lack of a better word. How rude."

"They don't need to know. Where we are going I can't get you to by car. " Sam told him. "If someone comes in and sees you're gone... tell them we took a walk to clear your head." He hoped Dean didn't freak on him. But it was a good sign that the man was up and gathering the baby. "That is if you don't mind a little shadow walking. Don't worry.. I'm not all gone yet. Spent a little time with a priest learning how to renew things along the way. "

"A priest?" Dean said. "Wow. Well, I guess that's one way. So...how do we do this? Last time, wasn't the best experience of my life." Of course that had been with Maggie. But this was Sam.

Sam thought about it. "Well it won't be as traumatic as the last time you went this way, but it's not the most gentle way of travel. It won't hurt the baby though. Are you still going to name her after Mom?" He asked as he picked up the infant carrier before coming over to rest his arm across his brother and the baby. The shadows in the room lengthened until they consumed them all. Sam thought of sunrise. Somewhere in the world it was always sunrise. It was the nature of a revolving ball after all.

They emerged from the shadows on the eastern coast of Australian. The sun barely cresting the deep blue of the horizon. Australia, he realized. A quiet beach, no tourists, no one walking the shore. It was just the three of them and the rising sun.

"Well, at least you used that lump on your shoulders and didn't bring me to a bar." Dean said with a chuckle as he adjusted his hold on the waking baby. "Yeah, her name is Mary. Besides being Mom's name, it's nowhere in her family." After her family had rejected her, she wanted no reminders at all. Seeing as they weren't all that polite to Dean, he was fine with it. "You would have liked her, Chavi. Put me in my place just about every chance she could get." He looked down at the baby. "I miss her."

"Sunrise is where I go when I need to breathe... find the ground again." Sam told him. "I can't see you with a woman who couldn't put you in your place. You like the fight too much." Sam said as he led the way over to the drift wood, and sat the carrier and bag down on the sand. "I am sure I would have liked her. The baby is beautiful. Which is amazing considering newborns aren't really except to their parents."

"Dude, you couldn't see me with a woman any longer than two days straight." Dean said with a chuckle as he sat down on the driftwood. "Neither could I, so guess we were both wrong. And of course she's beautiful, you idiot. I don't have time for ugly kids." He looked out at the rising sun. "Sam, I don't know if I can do this."

"You can. You're strong. Doesn't mean you have to feel strong, or steady. Just means you have to get up every day and get through that day. Just that day. Every time that sun comes up.. you have made it. " It was how he had gotten through the years alone. Just one day at a time.

"And wait to see how I'm going to fail her that day. I couldn't save Dad. I couldn't save you. Couldn't save my own wife. How the hell am I going to protect her? When I know what's out there?" Dean asked. "I haven't been able to do anything right in my whole life except for her. And she's brand new. Lots of time to screw her up."

"Dude, are you listening to yourself?" Sam asked with a gentleness that he hadn't heard in his own voice in more than a year now. "Dad... Dad gave up his own life. There was no saving him. Dad wanted to die. He wanted to die the day mom died... he chose the moment, and the cause. There was nothing anyone could do to stop it. Me... I was doomed from conception. It wasn't right for Dad to put that on you in the first place, and if the doctors couldn't save Chavi... how the hell do you think you could?" He rested his hand on his brother's shoulder. "And you are going to protect her, the same way you protected me when I was little. And I don't want to hear about the damned shtriga. You were a child. Dad shouldn't have put that on you. You aren't a child now. You won't fail her, Dean, you have never once failed me."

"Yeah, I know what I said. And I hear you, I do." Dean said. "I'm still going to bury my wife's ashes. My in laws say I killed her, I cursed her but good. Karma I guess, in some screwed up Romany way. You believe in karma still, Sam?"

"No." Sam said. "I believe that sometimes life just happens. Most of the time, life just happens. It's not anyone's fault. It's not divine retribution or demonic intervention." He said. "I think that there is no such thing as control in this life. It's like driving... control is all an illusion. All the skill in the world, all the training the best intentions, can't help you when the other guy is drunk or prevent equipment failure." He knew it was a cracked out analogy but it worked in his head. "You didn't curse her. We both know how curses really work. I don't believe she was cursed because of you either. Women die in child birth, it's natural. Tragic... but natural. " Equipment failure. Pure and simple.

"Still sucks. Still hurts." Dean said. "And she still died giving birth to my child. I know, you're about to smack me upside the head for my little self pitying trip, but I like taking the scenic route through it."

"It's not self pity, it's grief. Of course it hurts, and I would probably smack you if you didn't think this sucked. But you have Mary now. You aren't alone. She is definitely going to need her daddy... it's going to be easier for her than it was for you, Dean. trust me. Sometimes there were things that blew me out of the water about Mom... alot of questions, alot of wishing that she were around,... but she won't have that empty place inside that you had where mom used to be. I know. "

"Thanks for the vote of confidence." Dean said with a chuckle. "You know, the sunrise really is beautiful." He looked at Sam. "Do you want to hold her? You're sitting, so it's hard to drop her."

"Are you sure you want me to?" He asked, uncertainly. "I'm different now." He said slowly removing the glasses, and revealing his eyes. "I understand if you... would rather I didn't." He was actually afraid of his brother's reaction.

"Dude, you're still Sammy. Which is a weird anagram for pain in my fucking ass." Dean said. "You're not all gone. You're still convinced you will be, so this might be your one chance. Take it or leave it."

He reached out to take his niece from his brother's arms. "I think it will be...my last time... it's harder to be me all the time." He said as he pushed the blanket back to get a clear look at her. "My god, she is too tiny." Which was only in comparison to his massive hands, since she was a healthy sized little girl. "Wow... another generation of Winchesters. Even if she won't keep the name. "

"Dude, forget what I said before. You really are evil." Dean said, shaking his head. "First you're suggesting she's going to get married. Which of course means you're assuming there's going to be some man that's allowed to touch her. Without me shooting him somewhere painful. Not going to happen. I'm way too good a shot. She's got healthy lungs though. Screams like a girl, just like you."

Sam laughed then. "Okay.. I'm sorry she is going to wait for you to die before pining away over your ashes." He rolled his eyes. "Boys happen. And with your luck he will be a pacifist and a shrink who only believes in the world of reason. "

"Yeah, like that will happen. She'll have standards over who she's allowed to hang out with. And that's on the not list." Dean said, watching his brother with his daughter. "You're not all right, are you?" Maybe he could focus on Sam. Maybe the pain could be shoved to the side if something else was center stage.

"No." Sam said honestly, partly because he knew what Dean was doing and he needed a new focus for even just a few minutes. "Honestly, I think part of the reason I came was to see you one more time as myself. I'm sliding fast."

"Sam, you need to hold on. I haven't given up. Don't you give up on me." Dean said emphatically. He'd been researching, crawling under every rock and stone he could find for some answer. Because it was out there and he would find it. Because he had promised. Because it was Sammy, and if anyone deserved a slice of happiness all his own, it was Sam.

"Oh I'm not giving up." Sam said honestly. "Clawing and fighting every inch of the way. I've exorcised and assisted in the exorcisms of over a hundred demons. Learned the long way about it too. I've been very impolite according to ole yellow eyes. Meg said it was akin to cannibalism." He laughed then. "Haven't seen her back since that day in the warehouse... I think she avoids us both like the plague now. Sorry I blew the whole leaving you alone thing. Now that I have shown up they will start harrassing you again. "

"You forget, I have a demon in my corner." Dean said with a bit of a grin as he looked out at the sea. "He's seriously against interruptions to his life that won't result in his death, and since they can't kill him, it'll just piss him off. But I know how he feels now. How Dad felt."

"Try and find more joy in her than Dad found in me." Sam said as he caressed the child's cheek. Not that he blamed his father. He was the reason his mother was dead. He was the reason for every nightmare they had or had been put through since his conception. "I'm serious though, Dean. Next time I show up I might not be sane any longer. I understand that insanity comes as the last of the soul is leeching away. The step after that is... incorporeal."

"Then the next time I see you, you better be ready for a knock down drag out fight." Dean said. "Because if you think I'm letting you become non corporeal, you've got another thing coming. So much for Stanford educated. And she's the reason I'm still here. God, Sam, you told me to go off and be happy, try to be normal. I tried, I really did."

"The next time you see me... I will be like Maggie." He pointed out, knowing that his brother still carried the fears that woman had put into him. "And you are normal, Dean. Normal people lose their wives in child birth every day. Normal men become single fathers every day. It's a sad fact of life." It was some sad quirk of fate that his brother be fated to go through life as a single father. "But if there was ever a man who could do it, it's you. Yeah I'm losing my soul in dribbles and drips, and I dropped out of college and shot the last girl I ever got close to, but other than that you didn't do so bad a job raising me." He said with a laugh. "And you were just a kid. Think what you can do as a man. "

"So, is this a veiled warning to NOT teach her to shoot? Because, dude, you shot at me three times. Hit me twice." Would have been three times if the gun had been loaded the second time. Actually, if the gun had been loaded, there wouldn't have been a third time. "The running away from home...damn...Sam, you're holding an Rhodes scholar, you know that, right?"

Sam laughed. "You know, most of that could be avoided if you just keep her out of the family business." He pointed out. "It's hell on the education and relationships. And of course she is going to be brilliant... she's a Winchester. " He said. "Thankfully her mother was beautiful... or so I heard... so that she has half a chance. Cause, man, you would make one hell of an ugly girl."

"Well, we all can't be cute fluffy man girls, now can we?" Dean said and got his wallet out and handed Sam a picture taken on his wedding day. "That's her." He said. "And I don't hunt like we used to. Unless it's big, I stay local. Have another job anyway, because I'm you know, filing taxes and shit." He said, looking disgusted at just saying it. "Damn, the good old days when everyone in America wanted me. Now I pass for an upstanding citizen. Still not ever driving a mini van though."

"You're welcome." Sam said with a smile. He had been watching Court TV, with all the hype leading up to the trial that never happened. He loved the shows where they ragged on the FBI. They were two courts, those that believed that they had lost the evidence, and those that believed they had persecuted and prosecuted and innocent man. Dean's good looks had gone a long way in winning over that crowd. He just didnt look like a hardened criminal. Especially not with his loving family supporting him.

"Yeah, Bobby told me you had something to do with that. They had me dead to rights after all." Dean said with a chuckle. "I'm still getting fan mail from that. And I thought we were weird. At least we never sent fan mail to someone who may or may not be a murderer and necrophiliac. Though if I remember right, that dead chick did seem to like you."

"Dead chick, demon, werewolf... no more women for me, even if I were to find some miracle cure for soullessness." He said with a laugh. "Although to be fair I had a little help from Diana in Baltimore. Had to get her cooperation since she was the arresting officer and all.. or at least the surviving arresting officer. Convenient lack of memory."

"She was all right." Dean said with a nod. "Then again, I married a runaway gypsy, so I'll give you that our taste in women is generally unorthodox. And the women that dig us, well, it's a given they have something wrong with them. Family, possession, bite scars, non beating hearts. It's always something."

"Bite scars I could deal with, it was the silver allergy that was the kicker." Or more to the point her begging him to kill her. "But hey, you found happiness, you found normal. Bet Dad is proud of you... "

"Yeah, except her family wants to lay a gypsy curse on me now." Dean said, shaking his head. "The wake is going to be fun. I can see it now. Already had my tires slashed because she's being cremated." Because Romany tradition demanded burial. But Dean...Dean knew too much. And he wanted her to be as restful as he could make her. "I was still at the hospital too," since Mary hadn't been discharged yet, "that really really didn't improve my mood. Thank god Jack was there and reminded me that I really needed to bring the baby home, because I would have gone off the deep end. Shown them what a curse really is. And just how much of an asshole I can be."

"Nah... leave that to me. I'll just pop the glasses off and make them all faint." He said with a laugh. No, there were other ways to make people back off. The Rom would be leaving Dean alone if they knew what was good for them. "Besides, Mom's family wasn't so keen on Dad either. So it's just a family tradition. Should have known there was going to be trouble when Jess's parents liked me. "

"You know, the eyes? Really not that scary. Freaky, sure. But they're actually a rather girly shade of purple. Mary has a blanket that color, knitted by a stripper at Ben's club." Dean said. "So is that part of the turning demonic thing? Becoming a girl? Hair's getting pretty long too."

Sam choked at that. "Yeah, well, it's easier to keep out of my eyes when I can tie it back." He said grinning. "So your wife let you hang out with strippers? You really were in heaven, weren't you?" He shook his head. "I promise, all the things that make me a man... still there. Not turning into a girl."

"You know an easier way to keep it out of your eyes? Cut it off." Dean said. "They were customers. Didn't need to go to a strip club, actually had no inclination. As much as that is totally out of character for me to say."

"Not happening." He said about the hair. "And if nothing else today proved that you were in love, that did right there." Sam smiled. "I'm sorry I didn't get to meet her. But I'm glad you did, and you wouldn't have if I had stuck around... even without the demon crap going on. Which believe it or not...eases some things for me."

"What the hell does that mean? I've got this big empty hole inside me and that's a fucking good thing?" Dean said, flaring temper a bit there. "This is what you wanted?"

"You think I wanted this?" Sam asked as he eased the baby into the carrier. If they were going to argue, it wasn't going to happen while he was holding her. Kids picked up on emotions too easily at this age. "You think I wanted to have no family, no home? I wanted to be a lawyer, to marry Jess and have perfect little blonde haired blue eyed children who looked just like their mother." He said his own anger rising. "I don't have any of that. I don't get another chance at normal either. I get to go insane and become a monster. I'm sorry if my finding a little comfort in the fact that you found happiness for a while offends you. I'm sorry that the love of your life is gone. I really am, but damn it Dean... yeah... it's a good thing. You didn't die in a shoot out with the feds, or eaten alive by some monster. You have a home and a business and a beautiful daughter. Tell me where the alternative was better? If I could bring her back for you, I would. But I haven't crossed that line yet."

"You son of a bitch." Dean said, getting to his feet. "You think I wanted this for you? You think I wake up every morning grateful that my brother somehow sacrificed himself for me? You think I sleep easy because of this? Every morning I wake up and know I'm waking up because the people I love most in the world made ultimate sacrifices I never asked them to make. I never wanted them to make. Dad's dead! Because he decided my life was worth more than his. No discussion, decision made. You're like you are because you decided my life was worth more than yours. Again, no discussion, decision made. How do you guys expect me to live with the burden of that? And it's heavy. You have no idea how heavy it is. That because I'm alive, it's cost me just about everything."

"I am like I am because this is what I was born to be, Dean." Sam pointed out heatedly. "And none of this would have happened if I had never been born. Mom would be alive, Dad would never have gone off the deep end, you wouldn't have had to sacrifice your childhood to raise me, hell, half the people we knew all our lives would still be fucking alive if it weren't for me. All the times you have been tortured were all because I am drawing breath. So don't tell me how heavy this burden is Dean, because it doesn't belong to you. It's all mine. And if you get to have a little happiness in your life because I let it in a little early, so be it. It's a good thing. I got to give back just a little of what was taken from you because of me. It wasn't enough. Nothing I could do would ever be enough to make up for it all but at least it was something."

Dean shook his head, fuming. Sam already blamed himself for everything, now he was pulling this? So Dean did what he always did when he felt things spinning out of control. He punched the person standing closest to him, which this time would be his brother.

"Dammit Sam not everything is your fault. Not everything is because of you! God fucking dammit don't..argh...I don't know." He said loudly. "I just want to punch someone. I want to punch them and beat them until they feel as bad as I do."

Sam got up and walked toward his brother. "Go ahead. You can't hurt me, Dean. Not now, go ahead. Pound me until the anger is back in its box." He pushed Dean in hopes of pulling the violence back to the surface so he could let the anger out. Dean needed to fight. It was Dean's way. Always had been. He was like John that way. Pain translated to anger.

Dean shoved him back. "Yeah and when it's back in the box, what the hell is left?" He demanded. "I'm afraid that there is nothing left. Like with Dad. WIthout his anger, there was nothing left of that man." Oh he knew deep down that their father loved them. But it was John's rage and anger that had driven him, kept him alive after his Mary died.

"You're not John." Sam yelled at him. He rarely called John Winchester 'Dad' anymore. He had been a vessel, genetic material. What's more, he knew that John knew that too. That was why there was no good bye, no real closeness. John had known he was raising someone else's son. They had loved each other but it wasn't the same. "He loved us enough to die for us but that wasn't enough and we both know it. You're gonna have to love that baby enough to live for her."

"I know I'm not him!" Dean said. "Dammit, I was more of an adult than he was by the time I was eight." Right now, with his mind blown by so many other things, would probably be the only time in his life he'd admit it. He did worship his father, and held the memory of him very close. But he was just too raw now to pull any punches or even sweeten a truth into something more flattering.

"There is more to you than anger, Dean. You are just in pain right now, that's all. I know. " He said frowning a little as he sensed something different on the beach and moved back to his neice quickly and tossed a bag from his coat pocket to Dean. "We've got company." He said as he slid his rosary around the girl's neck and made a small cross on her forehead with his thumb. "You want to wait it out here in a brick dust circle or in the shadows?"

"Screw both the options." Dean said, opening the bag and spreading the dust in a circle around the carrier. "Sweetheart, Daddy's got some work to do. Be right back." He said and kissed her forehead, adjusted the blanket around her and went over to Sam. "Don't pull any of that protective crap with me. You're the little brother, remember?"

"Kiss my ass." Sam said. "I'll do as I damned well please." He said, striding out to meet the approaching demons with an arrogance in his step that had never been there before."Go away," He told them simply, "Not in the mood, and this so isn't the time for finding out who's on top." Sam looked between them.

"You screwed the pooch, Samuel. Even our father has his limits of forgiveness and understanding, even for you."

"Ooh so you're admitting I'm his favorite now?"

"Can you keep it down? Some people are trying to sleep." Dean said.

"And she'll die." One of the demons said. Dean's face contorted for a moment then he took a vial out of his pocket. Sure, he wasn't religious, but he had enough faith in objects of religious value to make them work for him. And that went for holy water too, which he poured over the back of his hand before balling it into a fist and punching the demon in front of him as hard as he could. Which wasn't exactly a little love tap.

"Sam, gotta say, that other side of that family that you don't really belong to...incredibly stupid." Dean said.

Sam laughed then. "I have missed this." He said as he broke out into an old fashioned brawl with the possessed. He kept an eye on his brother, careful that he not get so into the fight that he lost track of his safety, or that of his daughter. Sam was to the point that it was near impossible to harm him, but Dean on the other hand, was very much vulnerable to attack.

"Name yourself." He said to the one before him. There were so many, Sam had a hard time keeping track of the fallen's lap dogs.

"Because we're that stupid, Exorcist." One sneered at him, fighting back.

Dean was keeping a weather eye on the carrier, moving the fight a bit more away from it, but close enough that if he had to get to her, he could quickly. All the rage he had inside, and it was quite considerable, he poured into the fight. He didn't feel the hits he recieved, he was beyond that point right now.

"Just like old times, Sammy." Dean said with a bit of grin.

"Almost." Sam said and simply started to pray aloud. There was no time or privacy for an exorcism, but he could hit them on those levels even as he fought them the old fashioned way. His latin was accented now, and the timbre of his voice was different. It wasn't just words in latin. Wasn't a ritual to be recited by rote. There was belief behind his words now, and there was power.

The demons before them screamed, and Dean kept on hitting. "You threaten my daughter, you threaten my brother, and you seriously pissed me off." Dean said. This was actually cathartic. Though he was sure he'd regret this in the morning, he was feeling better.

Sam carefully hid the pain in his voice, even as he uttered the holy words that tore at him much as they did his demonic bretheren. His eyes glowed with it and the anger he carried with him. The anger and bitterness that seemed to overwhelm him at times. Part of him didn't care any more about the fight. About making his final stand. Part of him was willing to let it all go and just accept his fate. Let the last vestiges of his soul sink or rise as it was destined. But not here, not now with his neice mere feet away and helpless. Not with his brother so torn apart inside as it was. So he doubled his efforts, letting his demonic attributes show, fighting the creature in front of him with all the powers he had even if it meant disregarding the hosts' safety. It wasn't his concern right then.

Dean kept hitting, kicking, fighting, everything he could do to just dispell the rage inside. He couldn't pin Chavi's death on a demon, but he could sure make a demon pay for it any way. Because he couldn't go on this way, Sam was right. Mary deserved better, and he was the only one left to give it to her. So he had to work through it.

Unfortuntately he was a Winchester to the core. So 'working through it' meant pain. Pain and physicality.

Whether they were called by their master, or tired of the pounding they were getting from the Winchesters, the demons gave up their hosts, spewing out of them in an old familiar cloud of inky blackness. It wasn't until they had dissipated into the Australian air that he sank down on the ground beside the now unconscious and severely beaten people, and took several deep breaths to clear the pain in his body and soul.

Dean sat down on the ground himself. He was a little winded. Then he just laid back on the sand and stared at the sky. "Sam, when Jess died...was it like you were moving in slow motion?" He asked. The hosts would stay unconscious for a bit. And they'd be hurting when they woke up. Dean would even feel bad about it later, but right now, his concerns were on himself, his daughter and his brother. A small circle of space, but it suited him for now.

"Yeah... it was. None of it felt real. It was like I expected to wake up from a nightmare and find her still there, baking me chocolate chip cookies and fussing because I hadn't slept well. " He smiled a little sadly. "Unfortunately, I woke up from the nightmares and saw your ugly mug instead " It was teasing, but there had been times when he had been actually disappointed. "I kept expecting it to be her when my phone would ring, or to have her walk into the room... "

"It's like I'm moving in slow motion. And everything around me is moving so fast. I can't reach out and touch anything. Because as soon as I do, it's moved on. It's like I'm stuck." Dean said. "I don't...I don't know where to go from here. There's no map for this, no set of instructions."

"You just... can't give up trying to touch. Trying to move. Eventually you catch up with the rest of the world." He told him. "You'll always miss her. I won't tell you that it goes away. Not even if you are willing to heal." Their father had never been. "But it gets easier, and the pain fades to something else. I still miss Jess but it doesn't eat me alive anymore. And that isn't because of the condition of my soul. I had reached that point before you told me about my parentage."

"I can't even go into my own bedroom. The sheets still smell like her. How pathetic is that? I don't know what to do with all her stuff. Dad lost Mom, and he turned into a borderline sociopath. Ben lost his wife, and most of the time he's unbearable. I don't want to be like them. But...what if it's unavoidable? You're so convinced because the other children like you are turning evil you have to go all darkside. So do all...widowers..." he still tripped over the word, unfamiliar and unwanted, "turn into jackasses? Does that mean I naturally had a head start?"

"You were a jackass before you met her." He said with a smile. "I can help with her things. I don't have anywhere I need to be for a few days. I will help you get settled as much as anyone can. So long as you promise to put Jack on a leash." He teased as he gave Dean his hand. "I thought he was going to come after me when I showed up. "

Dean took Sam's hand and got to his feet, brushing off the sand and going back over to the carrier. "Yeah, well, Jack is..." Dean chuckled. "Jack. He's still got an only child mentality." And he was protective of Dean. Had been since the hospital in Chicago. "You both have this idea that I can't take care of myself."

"Probably has to do with the fact that you don't. Not that you can't... you just don't. You could be bleeding to death and tell us you're fine and just need a beer." Sam pointed out. "Gotta stop that shit now that you have a little life depending on you." He said peeking in at the infant, as he removed the rosary. "You know, you should really get her baptized."

Dean laughed. "Yeah. Okay. Big problem though. I'm not Catholic. Or any organized religion. Her mother was a disowned, cast out, runaway Roma. Don't think they really offer baptisms for kids of two parents like that. Not to mention when her uncle is a Nephilim, the other uncle is a kid of a Nephillim, illegitimate at that. Who was raised by a demon who owns a completely immoral and sinful strip club..."

"Do you have any idea what an unbaptized child goes for on the demonic black market?" He asked. "Never mind of course you don't... it's alot... add into it that child is a Winchester ... find a way. You don't have to go Catholic. Can't actually. Not without converting yourself and well... I could take her in and have it done but that would be a lie and it wouldn't hold the same power. I don't know... ask around and see if there is a replacement for Pastor Jim out there somewhere. It's important."

"Dude...you converted?" Dean asked, surprised. "The one family member finds religion, and it's the one with the weird freaky girly purple eyes. Go figure. So Winchesters are still real popular with the demon crowd, huh? Fine, I'll call Bobby and Ellen, see if they know of anyone that could baptize her since it's so important to you. Though I should deck you again for implying I can't protect her."

"Dude, that's like saying a doctor's kid shouldn't get immunized." He said shaking his head. "And stop taking offense at what I say. I converted while I was studying with Father Pavel. It just made sense... and it has helped keep me still me even with all that's going on. So... " he said changing the subject, "what do you think of Australia?"

"That's where we are?" Dean said with a chuckle. "It's...nice. Sandy. I still ain't flying back. I was going to suggest that you converted to try and one up me with the nuns, and I'm not taking offense to everything you say. I'm just touchy right now."

"No nuns. Sorry. Not a lot of time for girls and I don't want to risk making one of my own right now. " He said indicating the baby. "Wow... I am still floored that you are a father, dude. Not in a bad way but... this is pretty amazing. "

"Yeah, well, it's hitting reality now. Let me tell you." Dean said with a chuckle. "Kinda thought I was done with kids when you finally grew up. It's the scariest thing I've ever faced in my entire life." And considering all that Dean had faced in his life, that said something! "Come on, we should head back, you forgot to pack formula. It's in the fridge."

"Yeah, time to deal with the family anyway. They'll be impressed, you're moving." He said as he picked up the carrier and placed a hand on his brother, taking them all back to the nursery where a very angy, and concerned Jack stood waiting.

"Uh, hi." Dean said. So much for sneaking back in. "So...everyone still here?" He didn't really need to ask. He could hear them milling about in his house. Occasional laughter at something broke through the quiet murmurs. If either brother thought he was in the mood for some little brother show down, he'd be forced to punch them both out as he took the carrier from Sam to settle the baby back in her crib.

"Yeah. Mostly. " Jack said tensely. "Came in to see if you needed anything and you were gone... without any real way of getting out of here... and of course Sam here had just appeared in the shadows in the kitchen... scared Kaylie by the way. Thanks." Jack said locking gazes with Sam. "I see you've taken up Mom's travel habits. Picking up any other of her habits?"

"No... I've been leaving other people's children alone. Haven't picked up torture ...well... not of humans anyway." Sam responded coldly.

"Knock it off, both of you." Dean said, feeling like he'd just time warped back in time. "I'm not refereeing you two, got it?" The time being when he'd have to break up yet another argument between Sam and Dad. It really didn't help that Jack had John's voice. "I'm sure Sam didn't mean to scare Kaylie and he'll apologize, right Sam? And I probably should have told you I was taking off before you freaked. Maybe even left through the back door or something."

"Yeah, wasn't exactly thinking about it when I got here. My mind was on Dean." Sam said.

"Well there's a first." Jack said and sighed. "Well, food's on... all 2 tons of it. Might want to come out and talk to people before they put you on suicide watch." He didn't like this. Didn't like it at all. Sam was slipping fast, and it was obvious. "I'm gonna see if Ben will come over. He's always good at scaring off the in laws." Or perhaps carrying away demonic little brothers.

"You know what?" Dean said in a deceptively calm and gentle voice. Basically because he was tucking in his daughter. "I'm going to take a shower. Think someone could go bring me in some clean clothes?" He could still smell the hospital on himself. Not to mention sand. "If you two are going to fight, don't do it in this room. Got it? I think I got her back to sleep." He wasn't up to dealing with some fight between the two of them.

"Yeah I'll bring you something in. Which room is yours?" He asked. "The one next door?" At Dean's nod, he left the room figuring he could change the sheets, clear things out a little for him, so that it would be a little easier for him to sleep in there. He set the change of clothes aside and moved to strip the bed, not turning to look at Jack as he stood at the door. "Where does he keep the sheets?" He asked tossing the old ones into the hamper.

"What are you doing here?" Jack asked. "I don't know how far gone you are, but there isn't much of you left, is there?"

"No, so I really wouldn't recommend pissing me off right now. I've met you three times now that I remember and two of those hasn't been exactly a bonding experience. You aren't one of the three ...well four... people living that I would exercise self control over at this point. "

"Are you threatening me?"

"Nope... just a warning. Would hate to upset Dean by knocking the shit out of you for annoying me. So let's just call a truce. I'm here for a few days. You don't like it... too bad. Dean wants me here, and since I don't have too much more time as me left, I'm going to be here while I can."

"And if you cross over before you leave?"

"Then I guess Ben can take care of the situation. " He said, bitting back the urge to add, like he did with your mother. It would be cruel and that would upset Dean. So he didn't. But the little bastard was getting on his nerves. "So go get the sheets. He said the others smelled too much like her. We need to get the room cleared out a little so he can sleep, and I will drop these off for him." He said and headed out of the bedroom and into the bathroom without so much as knocking. "Clothes are on the counter. Why do I have the insane urge to yell at you not to use all the hot water?" He asked.

"Because we just kicked obnoxious demon ass?" Dean called out over the running water. "Besides, I can use all the hot water I want. I paid for it. Can even say that legitimately too." Which was still a surprise to even Dean. "Just a warning, though, Sam. First one that throws a punch gets stuck with the next dirty diaper. I mean it too."

"I'm not gonna hit him first." Sam said. "And it has nothing to do with diapers. Can't promise we will get along but I won't take it to a physical level." He didn't want to hurt Jack. Didn't particularly care about him any more. But had no desire to hurt him. He figured that was pretty much proof that he wasn't himself any more but he would keep up the act for Dean's sake.

Dean sighed as he turned the water off and reached out for a towel, wrapping it around himself before going over to the sink to brush his teeth. Wrapped in a towel, it was obvious he hadn't completely given up his old job. New scars here and there, on top of the ones from Meg that Sam had never seen as scar tissue. "You know, I feel like I'm eighteen again, and you and Dad are going at it over something completely stupid." He said, shaking his head as he rinsed out his mouth.

"I'm sorry." He said sincerely. "Dad and I really put you through the wringer. Looks like you've been busy." He said indicating a couple of scars. "Anything new and interesting? Or more of the same old? You do know that you need to leave shape shifters completely alone right? They are a huge jinx with you."

"Yeah, I learned that. No shape shifters for Dean. I just gather the info and pass it on if I come across them." Dean said with a laugh. "Um...let's see. Poltergeist, demon, elemental spirit, and a restless spirit." He said, pointing out the scars. "Funny, me getting into what other people consider trouble is me staying out of trouble." He said as he pulled on his clothes, shaved a bit and sighed. "Okay, guess I should go accept the condolences now. Don't know what the hell they're sorry for. I hate that phrase, I'm sorry. Doesn't mean anything."

"Means I wish you didn't hurt but I don't know what to say." Sam said with a shrug. "Just stay clear of the God's will people, God had nothing to do with it. She's probably in heaven but it's not God's fault any more than it's yours. But anyway, I am gonna head back to your room. Changing out the sheets and had Jack get started on clearing a few thing so that it's... not so harsh a reminder tonight when you crash. So... where do you want me to stash my bag and all that... guest room available or am I couching it?"

"Yeah, there's a room across from Mary's. Pull out couch. The closet is full of weapons, we were baby proofing after all." Dean said with a smile. "And Sam...thanks." He knew Sam didn't have to come. But he did.

"You're welcome." Sam said glad that he was able to come, even it was going to be the last time he could see his brother, at least he could be there while he was hurting the worst. He headed back toward the door. "I'm gonna go finish up in the bedroom while you get dressed. If you want, I will go out to face the crowd with you."

"Think I'm going to head straight into the kitchen. I don't know, you and Jack can bail me out if I look like I'm about to punch someone." Dean said as Sam left. He got dressed and took a deep breath. Then walked out of the kitchen. His living room was still filled.

Had he been coherent and able to focus when he left the hospital, he never would have allowed this. But here they all were. He shook his head a bit and escaped into the kitchen. He couldn't remember the last time he ate, and he still wasn't hungry, but he had a fear of passing out while feeding his daughter. So he took a plate, filled it with something out on the counter, and went to sit at the table with a beer. He looked out the window and could see his wife's family on the lawn, just staring at the house. They wouldn't come in. His house was 'impure.' So they were just going to stare.

It took a little, but Jack and Sam came to an understanding. And that understanding was that Dean needed them both right then and they could deal with their personal issues later. It didn't take long to finish the room, or for Sam to lay fresh salt and brick, or mark signs on the window panes with holy water. They each peeked in on Mary to be sure she was alright and headed into the dining room, taking seats on either side of their brother.

Sam looked at the window. "Those are the in laws I take it." He said shaking his head. People were such idiots.

"They are." Dean said with a nod. "Guess I can't blame them for hating me. I mean, I did threaten to shoot her father. Loaded and cocked the shot gun and everything. And that was BEFORE we got married." He nodded and shook the hands of people who felt the need to interrupt his eating to express how sorry they were, and what a shame and tragedy it all was. Dean kept his mouth full so he wouldn't say something stupid, even if he meant it. Seemed safer that way. It all tasted like saw dust and cardboard, but it would keep him going. And he wouldn't have to make food for a bit. "Some people just don't appreciate the Winchester charm." But his foot was tapping underneath the table. The people were seriously wigging him out. He was nearly about to go out there and say something to them.

"Time to see if I can remember the fluffy puppy routine." Sam said quietly as he stood up and forced his eyes back to their original brown. That wasn't easy to do any more. He then made his way to the horde in the living room. "Hi, I'm Dean's other brother, Sam. I hate to do this, but Dean just really needs some time to himself and all. I'm grateful that you were all able to be here to keep an eye on him earlier, until I could get here. It means a lot to all three of us, but I really have to ask everyone to go home for now." He said with the appropriately sorrowful, apologetic and sincere tones. When all he wanted to say was, are you morons done making it worse? Get the hell out.

Slowly people began to mill their way out of the house and into their cars, now turning thier sympathy to Sam, to relay to Dean. He simply nodded and thanked everyone walking with them outside, partly to get them moving, partly because once the nice people were gone it was time to move the others on their way too.

"Wow... he has them eating out of his hand. I think that's scarier than the eyes were." Jack said watching through the window. "He was always like that?"

"Fluffy puppy." Dean said with a bit of a chuckle. "Demonic or not, I bet half those people want to take him home and give him a cookie." He was grateful they were gone, even if it made the house too quiet now. He supposed he couldn't have it both ways. Kaylie came over with a refill for Dean's plate and took the emptied one away, plopping a soda in front of him as well as she sat next to Jack. "Sam's real sorry he scared you before." Dean said around his food.

"Yeah he was a bit ... focused." Jack said, knowing Sam was right, that they had to get along for Dean's sake. But he hoped that after this visit was done, he hoped they never saw him again, he was a hair's breadth away from the shadows. He didn't want that vision to come to be, because it wouldn't just be Dean that he took down when he came back. It would be all of them, slowly and methodically.

Sam strode over to Chavi's family. "Why are you here?" He asked them bluntly. "You don't get to take it back, you know." He said to her father. "You can displace your anger, and throw it at Dean all you want but it won't absolve you. You cast her out, you told her you had no daughter. " His voice was calm, with a purring undercurrent as he tuned into their grief, and guilt. "You can't unsay that now. She won't hear you. She won't even hear you railing at Dean. The one that she loved more than you. The one that you hated more than you loved her. No matter how you look at it, this all comes back on you, doesn't it? That has to suck."

"We have no business with you." Her father said coolly. "But I am not surprised that he sent someone else out to be his mouthpiece. Is he cowering in his impure house? Covered and smothered with his guilt? We warned him, we warned her. You know nothing of us, we have no piece with you. But I have a right to grieve my daughter in my own way." And if he could make Dean Winchester pay for the ruination of his daughter, it would be all the better.

Sam removed his glasses. "But I have business with you." He said. "You say the house is impure because the child resides in it and hasn't been baptized yet. You considered your daughter impure because she was pregnant. You would have them closeted away and shunned for the miracle of life. I know your ways." He said, and he did, as long as he focused on the man before him. "You failed her. You didn't raise her to believe as firmly in your ways as you do or Dean would have never met her. You cast her out instead of drawing her in closer and reminding her that her family needed her, and loved her. You gave her hate in return. But that's your way, isn't it? Not your people's ways... your ways. A bitter, angry, powerless man. You will leave this place, and you will never look back or you will find out exactly how much business you do have with me."

"Demon!" The father in law spit out at Sam, and had to be held back by a couple of his sons. Not in his right mind, he would have gone after Sam. "He spit on my culture, on my family. And this is what he has wrought because of it. Your threats mean nothing in the face of that. He disgraced my family, he killed my daughter. And sent a demon out to finish the rest of his work against my family. Oh, I know you too well. We are Roma, we will not be bowed and made to cower by a demon, or a man such as him."

"He didn't send me." Sam said with a low rumbling laugh, embracing in that moment a portion of what he was to become. "I came because you called me. Your hatred, your fear, it screams to my kind, like a dinner bell. If you knew half as much as you think you do, you would burn and salt your dead, and sleep in circles of salt. But you know nothing except that unnatural eyes, must be a demon." He mocked. "You know your magics, and your curses and your own darkness reflected in the world around you. Your daughter died of natural causes, and your disgrace is your own. After all, something had to make her flee the loving arms of her family to a man who was not of your tribe. Something had to make her feel unwelcome, unwanted... " he looked around the family eyes resting on the man's wife. "Wonder what that was... what could have broken her heart and made her leave...?" He stared at her a moment then turned back to the father. "Go on. Get out of here while I am still in the mood to be nice, and let you go on about your lives with no further trouble from me. "

"She was misguided. And fooled by him." Her mother said, pointing at the house. "Fooled by the bright and shiny world outside our kin, and look what became of her. What will become of that child? Living in the house that doomed her to her death." She was openly crying, leaning on one of her sons.

Dean looked out the window. "Dude, this isn't going well." He said with a chuckle to Jack as he grabbed a beer instead of drinking the soda.

Jack looked in turn. "Well... true... but it hasn't come to blows yet, and it looks like Sam is letting off some steam. " He frowned. "Is it a good thing to let that sort of demon let off steam? It's good for Ben, but did it seem to be a good thing with Mom or did it just make things worse once she got started? You knew that side of her more than I did."

Sam took a step forward. "The house killed her." He laughed. "The house doomed her to death." This time the dimples actually showed. "Last chance." He said, his voice going dark again, with all mirth long gone. The shadows deepened around them and Sam gave an almost gentle but firm push with his mind, forcing them off of the lawn, onto the sidewalk. "GO!" He said firmly. "And if there is so much as a single whisper of a curse directed at him or this family or this house I will wipe out every last one of you. Swallow you up in darkness and drown you in your own blood."

They stared at him in shock, stumbling as they pushed. They looked at Chavi's father, who nodded.

"I know your kind." He said. "I can just sit back and let you finish him off." He said as the family departed, some quicker than others.

Sam watched them go. He knew that just a few days ago that line would have almost finished him off. But he knew better. He wouldn't harm Dean, not this visit. He didn't know that he would ever harm Dean, at least not the way most people thought of it. He didn't really think that Maggie would have ever harmed Jack. But never the less he would go when Dean was back on his feet and his woman was in the ground. He wouldn't harm Dean but the darker he became, Dean might not give him a choice.

He put his glasses back on and made his way back into the house. He didn't trust the old man not to try something. He would have to keep vigil for a little while. Make sure that they didn't come back.

"So's my house going to be surrounded by torches and pitchforks tonight?" Dean called out in an eerily calm, tired voice. "Don't worry about it, Sam. I was expecting the torches, the pitchforks will be for your benefit though. Now we just gotta think of something they can add for Jack's benefit."

"That's...really not funny." Kaylie said.

"It's hysterical, in a nearly psycho Jack Nicholson way." Dean said.

Sam and Jack both laughed. "They really don't want to do that." Sam said. "Can you imagine explaining to the police that they had to destroy their son in law and his pet demon?" He grinned. "I hear they have Gordon in a nice padded cell most of the time now. He has trouble accepting that there aren't demons in there with him. One of our possessed individuals was in the same prison." He explained.

"Aww did you stop by for a little visit?" Dean teased. "I can see it now. Nice friendly traveling priest with his fluffy puppy boy side kick, and Whacked Out Gordon points to puppy boy and screams demon." He laughed. "Wonder if they took him down with cattle prods."

He was better. He was talking, he was eating, he was moving. He was interacting. But it was all still on the edge of every word he said, and every movement he made. He still didn't think it had fully hit him, and it wouldn't be good when it did. But at least he had experience with what happened when you brought someone who was stone cold dead back from the dead. What was dead should stay dead. No matter how badly you wanted them back. It was half the reason for the cremation, so the choice was taken out of his hands forever.

"He was screaming at the top of his lungs that I was ...well Sam Winchester, but I had this killer identity set up as Sean Talbot. It cost me a car that you would cry over, Dean, but it was air tight, till you found out anyway. Passed all the scrutiny for getting into the prison and by this time I had done away with any evidence the police had anywhere on either of us, so he is going off that I'm me, and that I'm evil and that the prisoner we are going to see was a demon and that I was going to consort with the demon and become an unstoppable evil. " He shook his head, laughing. "They wound up sedating him, and putting him in solitary because he was getting pretty dangerous. The sad part of that trip was that we had to bind the demon in place to keep it from escaping. I always hate doing that. Feels like giving up, but sometimes the possessed is shattered inside and to free them wouldn't be a blessing. "

He kept an eye on his brother as he spoke. Dean was doing better. Or at least he was faking it better. But that was the key to getting better. You faked it until you could really do it. He just hoped that Dean, unlike his father, would one day be able to really do it.

"Ah, the good old days." Dean said with a chuckle, then put his beer down when Mary started to cry. "Be back." He said, taking the formula he'd been warming up with him.

Kaylie looked at Sam, with his strange purple eyes. She'd met him briefly twice, once when Dean was in the hospital, another time, well, she didn't like to think about it. And he was even more different this time around. "Are you staying for a bit?" She asked.

He nodded. "For a few days." He said, putting his sunglasses back on. He didn't want to stir up a hornet's nest and then leave Dean to deal with the aftermath. He would need to go to mass the following morning though, he was slipping and needed to ground himself once more in the light, otherwise this would be a very short trip indeed. "Dean told me the guest room was across from the nursery. So... what all is going on in your lives? You two married yet? " He asked as he went to get a beer from the fridge, looking at the seal before taking the top off.

"This is my last semester." Kaylie said with a chuckle. "Then we'll seriously talk about the wheres and whens of that. Though we did find a great place we afford on our salaries," as she was still a waitress until she was done with college, "which is working out great. No one turning the heat up to 90, only to have someone else come in and turn the air conditioning down to 40." Dean and Ben were still battling over what normal room temperature should be whenever Dean went over there.

"Next time, I'll fry him." Ben said, coming in. The gypsies were scattered, which was good. One less thing to do. And all the condolence givers were also gone. Or else he wouldn't have come, because some memories he didn't like to relive. "There another sealed beer in there?" He asked Sam.

"Yeah." Sam said, nodding to Ben. "I'll make a beer run on the way home from Mass tomorrow morning. Wow that sounds ... different." He said with a chuckle, shaking his head. "So how ya been?" He asked, not exactly feeling the love from the three of them, but Dean needed time alone with his daughter as well. Time to grieve without everyone, including him, watching.

"Heard you went all exorcist." Ben said. "Can't say I'm overly fond of exorcists as a rule, but, hey, I'll deal." He'd been through enough exorcisms in his life, when medieval priests would swear he was possessed. He had scars from it. And he was just outside of the realm, just enough, to escape banishment or entrapment. Didn't make it any less painful when they tried though. He went and got himself a beer. "Think Dean would mind if I turned the heat up a bit?"

"Yes." Kaylie said automatically.

"Oh. Okay." Ben said and looked uncomfortable. "So, the gypsies are gone. Good."

"I know how to tell the difference between someone like you and someone that's possessed. Can't say I blame you for not liking it. It's not too comfy doing it anymore." He admitted. "Yeah I went and talked to them, convinced them it would be a good idea to go home. "

Jack laughed a little. "Yeah he had the neighbors convinced he was a candidate for sainthood. Or a lost puppy, they weren't sure which. Although I think the gypsies thought he was satan incarnate."

"So you threatened to kill the in laws." Ben said with a laugh. "Good, maybe they'll leave him alone for a little bit. He's had to deal with them enough. How IS he doing, by the way?"

"A little better. I took him to see a sunrise and he got to kick someone's ass. " Sam said. "Still ragged, still has me worried but he ate something and has been talking."

"Yeah he is in feeding Mary now." Jack said. "Where did you find a sunrise that late in the day?"

"Australia." Sam said with a shrug.

"Don't even start, Jack." Ben said to Jack. "I got you to Chicago in an eyeblink pretty much the same way."

Kaylie sighed and leaned her head on Jack's shoulder. "I'm not sure he'll ever get over this."

"How does anyone get over something like this?" Jack asked, holding Kaylie close. He couldn't imagine losing her, but he knew in this moment that one day, one of them would survive the other. One would be left behind like Ben and Dean, and it made his heart ache.

"You fake it until you can bury it or move on enough that you can breathe again. " Sam said from experience. It had taken years to get over Jess's death. So many nightmares, so many broken hearted days where he wasn't sure he was going to be able to face the morning sun, but Dean was there helping him through it. And they had a mission then. A real mission. The quest to find their father. Things had all fallen apart starting with Jess's death. That had been the begining of his decline. It had been the death blow and everything from that point on had been nothing but bleeding out and infection. He hoped Jack could be there for Dean the way Dean had been there for Sam. He knew he couldn't do it. The end was too near.

"Or you just become an all around asshole and open a strip club." Ben said with a chuckle as he lit a cigarette.

"Dean doesn't want smoking in the house." Kaylie said and Ben rolled his eyes.

"Fine." He said and put it out in the sink. "But Jack breathes just fine."

Sam chuckled. "Dean is going to be the world's most over protective and strangely indulgent father." He said with a smile, looking back on his own early childhood, before Dean had become more brother than father. "Until it's time for the little darling to start dating."

"At which point we hide his guns." Jack said, only half kidding.

"Yeah, good luck with that." Sam told him in turn.

"Could be worse. She could show up at my club looking for a job." Ben said with a grin. Because Dean would absolutely never allow that!

"That's all right. I'll help her sneak out of the house to meet boys. I was doing it for years before my father caught on." Kaylie said, then laughed. "And sure, he threatened to have Jack arrested for kidnapping, but still."

Jack laughed. "I remember that." He said shaking his head. "Then he threatened to show me how HIS father used to castrate bulls. Only without that pesky bovine presence."

"That's what you get for dating the daughter of a butcher who's the son of a rancher." Kaylie said with a laugh. "But I think Mary is going to be spoiled rotten." She looked at Sam. "Is it weird? I mean, having another Mary Winchester?" Since she knew Sam and Dean's mother's name was Mary. That's why it was chosen.

"No... not weird at all. I think Mom would like it." He said with a faint smile. "Hey, I'm just glad he didn't name her Samantha." Sam teased. "He seems to think that's my name most of the time. So what's her middle name anyway? I ... didn't get around to asking earlier."

There was a beat of silence, then Ben, Jack and Kaylie burst into laughter that took some time to subside.

"It's um..." Kaylie said before laughing again. Just because of Sam's comment.

"Samantha." Ben finished for her. It was pretty funny, given what Sam had just said.

Sam didn't know if he wanted to laugh with them or cry. "Mary Samantha Winchester." He said quietly "Well... I suppose it has a ring too it. Let's just hope the name is all she has in common with me."

"So long as she doesn't wind up with your jaw line... she'll be fine. You know there's this show on cable where the kid's favorite superhero has this really... pronounced chin." Jack said and was rewarded with a dinner roll in the forehead, tossed by a laughing Sam.

"Nice." Sam said. "You know yours isn't exactly receeding into your face either there, little brother."

"And you have nearly a Cro-Magnon forehead." Ben said to Sam. "And her father is bow legged. Oh the traits this poor child could have. If we're lucky, she'll look like her mother. If Dean's lucky, she won't."

"Maybe she will look like our mom with her mom's coloring... cause I can already tell she isn't going to be blonde. Green eyes is still an option though." Sam said, scowling at the Cro-Magnon comment, which only served to increase the effect in question.

"Definitely not blonde." Kaylie said with a laugh. "I know we're supposed to leave him alone and everything, and give him space, but I don't know, maybe someone should bring him something to drink?" She suggested, meaning Dean. He'd started eating, she didn't want to see him stop. It hadn't been easy to get him to start in the first place.

Sam and Jack stood up at the same time, and stared at each other for a moment before Jack sat down somewhat reluctantly and let Sam go and get the beer for their brother. Jack felt as though he had been replaced. Just in the blink of an eye, Sam was back. Dean needed Sam. He had always needed Sam. Sam always needed him. It was one of the most powerful bonds Jack had ever seen and he felt small in its wake. And while he ached inside, grieving for his sister in law, aching from the pain that his brother was feeling, wanting to be the one he turned to in his grief, he knew that it needed to be Sam that went to him. He hated Sam in that moment, even though it was unreasonable and irrational and Sam had done whatever he had done to protect Dean.

Sam silently walked to the kitchen and grabbed two beers, checking the seal on at least one of them before walking into the nursery. "Thought you might want another one." He said setting it on the small table beside the rocking chair. "Since Mary isn't the only one bottle fed around here. "

"Ha, ha. Very funny." Dean said, balancing the bottle in the crook of his neck, putting the beer between his knees and twistingt the cap off. "You know, you were smaller than her when you were born. Imagine that. God I was disappointed when they brought you home. They promised me someone to play with. All you did was cry, eat, sleep and shit." He said with a chuckle. "Hardly sidekick material back then."

"Yeah, takes a few years for that to happen. But I bet they will fly by with this little angel." He said as he took a seat on the floor. "Doesn't seem like it's been long enough for all these changes. I mean since... since Jess... So much has happened and it's all been in so short a time. Too short a time."

"It's never long enough." Dean said. "Even if it had happened over fifty years. "I mean, shit, blows my mind that you were nearly a lawyer. Because sometimes when I think of you, I think of the kid I had to potty train. No idea how to potty train a girl. Not like I can throw Cheerios in the toilet and tell her to aim." He said with a chuckle. "But I got a while to figure that out. Heard Ben out there, surprised he came. Must have been disappointed that you already took care of the in laws."

"I think Jack called him in, just in case I get out of hand." He said with a smirk. "They all really care about you out there. I'm glad." He knew Dean would need the help once he was gone again. "You have a house and a business... it's amazing. You've really gotten your life put together... I know it doesn't feel like it at the moment. Would probably have you committed if it did... but you've done really well for yourself."

"Dude, if you've ever lived with Ben, you'd work your ass off to get a place of your own too." Dean said with a chuckle as he put the baby bottle back on the table, Mary having eaten her fill for the time being. "Cracked out demon keeps the temperature at 85. Year round. Complains that he once traveled into hell itself and it wasn't hot enough for him. Then there's Jack and Kaylie and their attempts to be quiet. So once you get a place, then you have to pay for it because no one lets you out of their sight long enough to be nomadic like we used to be. The only thing I can legally do to make money is cars...yeah, so, it's easily explained. Everything you see though, not my doing. Before...Chavi...I had a couch, a chair, a bed and a well stocked beer fridge. She decided I needed, oh I don't know, bread. A table. Frames for pictures, that sort of thing."

"It's a girl thing." Sam said. "Jess did the same thing. I left home with a duffle bag of stuff and that was enough for me. Easy to keep track of and keep the roommates out of in the dorm. Jess... she didn't want a crash pad, she wanted a home, and the moment we moved in together it was homemade chocolate chip cookies, and furniture. I didn't know what to do with it... I was used to just a bed, maybe a chair. Next thing I know, there's a coffee table, and end tables and a couch in between them."

"Makes you wonder how we survived in furnished rental homes and cheap motel rooms, doesn't it?" Dean said with a laugh. "So you and Jack have a truce all signed out, or do I have to put Kaylie between you? Cause, dude, not up to breaking you two up. This little one has her father's appetite, so that's what I'll be doing." And figuring out how to deal. If he could. Or just shove it down so he could function. If he could do that. He had good moments, he had terrible hours.

"It's not written out and signed, but it's understood. It's okay, I get it. I'm dangerous and I just moved into his territory." He shrugged. "He'll be fine once things settle down again." He was sorry there hadn't been time to get to know Jack before he had left. It would have made things easier now. But the man knew when to back off so it was all good in the end. He had to make sure to talk to Ben later about that ritual. Preferably alone.

"You make it sound like I'm some fire hydrant dogs fight over. I swear, the first time either of you lift your leg, I'm laying down a smackdown for the ages." Dean said with a chuckle. He supposed in a way he should be flattered, since they cared so much to nearly fight over him. And he wished in these moments he didn't have to be a selfish bastard and just refuse to share Sam for the short time he was allotted with his brother, but dammit he was. So he was going to be.

"So you named the poor kid after me, huh? Dude, just so that you know... this one gets to have long hair, and it's okay if she cries like a girl." He said with a grin, He just couldn't wrap his brain around how much Dean had changed, or more appropriately put, his life had changed. Dean was very much the same. He could sense the older man's insecurity and lack of self worth just as keenly as his father in law's guilt and sin. His ability to sense the weaknesses in others was growing stronger. He didn't think that was a good sign.

"Yeah, yeah I know. She can be a girl." Dean said. "And she's going to have the things we never really had. A home, go to the same school for years, friends that you don't have to lie to. Definitely never driving foreign. She won't get dragged on hunts." He chuckled, but it was without humor. "And there were people that asked why, if it was a boy, I never considered John as part of the name. The world doesn't need another John Winchester. I love him, don't get me wrong. Damn near worship the man but...Sam, did you ever forgive him? Dad I mean."

"Yeah... I did." Sam told him honestly. "Had to do a lot of soul searching... yeah I know... ironic choice of words coming from me, but I had to in order to be able to go the exorcist route. It took a lot for me to do it. But the thing is... it wasn't his fault I am what I am anymore than it's the fault of any of those other people out there that are possessed what's done while they are back seat driving." He sighed a little. "And if he hadn't raised us as he did, I don't know that I would have lasted as long as I have against it. I'm not happy about it all. I hate that we missed all those normal kid things. Would have really liked to have had a dog." He laughed a little then, even if it was sadly. "But I don't have to be happy with it, or him, to forgive him. You know what's funny... the part that hurt worst was that he didn't even say goodbye."

"No he didn't." Dean said. "He had the time to. To either of us, both of us. Because I really don't think 'save your brother or kill him, and oh by the way you have another brother' counts as a good bye anymore than 'hey Sam, would you mind getting me a cup of caffeine?' counts." He remembered that period of time. Three minutes, sometimes it played out in slow motion, sometimes super fast. But no matter how many times it got played in his head, there was never a good bye in there. "He never did drink the coffee." And strangely it upset him. Like that task for Sam was just one in a long line of pointless tasks he'd set them on in the past. "He was there, and then he wasn't. Chavi was there, then the doctor told me she wasn't."

"If he had said an actual good bye, you wouldn't have let him go." Sam said simply. "It's not in you to let go of anyone. It's part of what makes you ... you... but it's what tears you up inside. I'm sorry to be a part of that pain."

"Yeah, everyone's real sorry. I hate that phrase. I do." Dean said as he just looked at his daughter as he talked. "You do something wrong as a kid, parents make you apologize. Makes sense. We get to be grown ups, and we still say it, nearly automatically because it's just been trained into us. I bet Dad sure is sorry that he had to leave that way, but he did anyway. You're sorry, and you're going to leave anyway. So it's really just a bandaid you put over a big gaping gut wound because you don't know what else to do."

"I don't want to leave Dean... but I'm not going to stay. You know what will happen if I do, and I don't want you to remember me like that. Sounds selfish considering what sort of monster I am becoming and what I would probably do and I'm worried about how the part of me that is still me is going to be remembered. " He shook his head. "I seriously was not nice to your inlaws man... I mean... said things and wanted to do things... that the guy you remember would never do in a million years no matter what circumstances. But here I am...doing things."

"Dude, I don't have a history of being nice to them." Dean said. "And you'd figure, except for the ethnocentricism and xenophobia, we'd have a lot in common, right? And I know Sam. I know, I do. Okay, I get it. I'm not that thick in the head. But it doesn't make it any easier to be the one left behind again. And I am so frigging sick of being the one that's always left behind."

"Just don't let it... you know... " How to say 'make you like Dad' with out actually saying it. "Too afraid to get close again. We don't live in a world where people last all that long I'm afraid. I think that was why Dad didn't introduce us to too many of them, really. "

"Yeah, I know." Dean said. "But I'm not joining the PTA and I'm not driving a mini van and I'm not ever ever baking cupcakes. Should I ever, you'll have to come back and exorcise me."

Sam laughed at that. "Yeah I probably would." He said. "Do us all a favor though... don't teach her that it's okay to shoot the boys. It's much better if she just sabotage their cars."

"Ooh, that's harsh." Dean said and carefully stood up with the baby. "Come on, might as well go back there. Show them all I'm doing a hell of a job at faking being okay." There was a wake to get ready for anyway.

Sam got up as well. "Yeah... that's the first step, faking it." He knew that all too well. He spent most of his time faking it now. Faking being okay, faking that it wasn't tearing him apart inside every day that he was on his own, faking it that he wasn't in excruciating pain every time he went on another exorcism. That it didn't hurt to take communion. Faking it that he was still human just a little while longer, in the hopes that maybe he could make it on just stubbornness alone.

"Makes everyone else feel better." Dean said as he came out into the kitchen. "Hey." He said to Ben.

"Hey." Ben said. There wasn't too much to say. Couldn't very well say 'I know this is tearing you apart inside, and I can't even promise you it will get better, because tomorrow, you'll wake up and she'll still be gone.' Because that would be cruel, to the both of them.

"Bobby said he was on his way when he called me today... so he should be here tomorrow or the next day." Sam said in order to make conversation that didn't involve the words I'm sorry, and oh god I wish I could take the pain away.

Dean nodded. "Yeah, Ellen said she's coming in as well. Ash too." Dean said. Then there was silence. Always so much silence.

"Well this is awkward." Ben said as he opened the back door. Half in the house, half out of the house, he smoked blowing the smoke outside. "Dean, your wife is dead. And it sucks more than anyone could possibly try to tell you. You don't need us to tell you how much it sucks anyway, you know. You've got everyone coming in from out of town to say their good byes to her, and try to give you a bit of support. That's going to suck too. Now, I suppose you could do what Sam did. Hop in the car and go on a supernatural hunt across the country, but you've got Mary, and you can't." He said, referring to when Jessica had died. "You can't outrun this. You can't out fight it. Could try and drown it, but then who's going to raise the kid? So I guess your only choice is to deal and pick yourself up. Now we can all sit here staring at him, and that's even less fun than it sounds. Or someone can talk. Besides me."

Sam nodded. "So... Ellen... that's going to be interesting." He said having a serious lack of trust in the woman that he had once trusted enough to confide things he probably shouldn't have. He supposed it was because now he actually was something that should be hunted down and killed. Bobby wouldn't do it until the end so he trusted him. "Okay... well... people could catch me up on things... I know these two are living in sin, Ben still owns a strip club and you are a mechanic and a part time hunter now, even though there is technically no such thing, it's one of those things that you either are or aren't." He said with a laugh. "But what else is going on around here in people's lives?"

Jack shrugged. "I'm a paramedic now, we are living in a rental house across town but pretty much we all got together for dinner once a week when schedules worked out. Ahm... it's a pretty quiet life really, except for patching Dean up since he still hates going to a hospital to be seen. "

"Hospitals wig me out." Dean said. "I've been in a hospital three times in my adult life for myself. Each time they told me, or Sam, I was going to die. Obviously they were wrong, because I'm going to outlive all of you."

"Except me." Ben said. "Don't worry, Dean, when you die, I'll be sure to burn your body, after dressing it up in a nice pink ruffled prom gown. I think Kaylie has one."

"It wasn't pink. It was rose." Kaylie said.

"It was pink." Ben said with a chuckle.

"He has the coloring for pink." Sam pointed out. "But I don't know that any amount of salting and burning would keep him from coming back from the grave if you did that. Personally I think you should cremate him in his car."

"You know, I'm for that idea." Dean said. "And I do not have the coloring for pink."

"It wasn't pink anyway. It was rose." Kaylie said again.

"I went with Jack to get the cumberbund and everything. It was pink." Ben said. A harmless topic. People usually talked about what to do with their remains, especially if they knew what was really out there. Add in some humor and it was a good bridge. "Jack, tell her it was pink."

"It ... was pink.. rose is a shade of pink." He said apologetically. It was true. He hated doing it to her, but there was no way he could argue the distinction between rose and pink and keep his masculinity intact.

"Fine." Kaylie said and threw a pretzel at him.

"Uh oh." Dean said, managing a chuckle. "Don't worry, dude, I've got a couch if you need it."

"I remember a time when women were seen, and not heard." Ben said with a smirk.

"Would that be the time when you had absolutely no chance of getting laid without getting skewered later?" Kaylie said sweetly.

"Ouch. Point taken." Ben said. "So what's the plan for tonight? I mean, are you taking the baby to the funeral home?"

"I can baby sit if you want." Sam said, knowing it was probably a long shot. "I ahm... never met her, so it makes sense that everyone else is going to need to go say their goodbyes." Dean would probably need him but that was up to Dean really which he needed more. Or if he would even trust him with the child.

"No, no. Ben can babysit." Dean said.

"I can what?" Ben said with a chuckle. "Thanks for volunteering me."

"Anytime." Dean said with a tired sigh. But he knew to walk into the funeral home, he'd need both his brothers. Because he wasn't sure he could do it. "I'll have another favor later."

Sam nodded. Having been a child in Maggie's keeping while she was probably less gone than he was right then, he couldn't blame his brother for saying no. Trusting himself with Sam, and trusting his only child with Sam were two different things. He took it as one of the first signs that Dean was taking this transformation seriously and it relieved Sam more than anything else. "What time are we supposed to be there? And will the in laws have to be dealt with?"

"I don't know, six." Dean said, looking lost again.

"Well, don't worry. Jack survived to adulthood." Ben said. "I can handle a few hours with the baby." Ben assured him. "Go get dressed. I know how these things go, you're expected to wear something a little more formal than what you've got on."

Sam excused himself to change clothes as well. He still kept a suit. It was what he went to church in when time allowed for such things as dressing for the occasion, and he used it when interviewing families of the possessed. What Dean called the fluffy puppy boy was great for shmoozing grannies or moms who missed their children away at college, but it didn't instill confidence in the families in need of his help. Not that he did much of the official type exorcisms anymore, that is to say church sanctioned. The eyes tended to put people off. Once the eyes had shifted almost permenantly he had parted ways with the good father. He tried to stay in contact but he didn't want to risk the older man anymore than he wanted to risk his brother.

"Damn you, Bobby." He said, wishing the man hadn't convinced him to come. All he had done was bring a momentary comfort and a future full of sorrow and painful death to his brother. But it was too late to leave now. He would stay until the end now. Which meant he had to talk to Ben about things. Because the end wasn't far off.

He tamed his hair and headed back out to rejoin the others.

Jack and Kaylie left to go change, they'd meet Dean there. And Dean was in his room, getting up the nerve to dress to go to his wife's wake. That left Ben and Mary in the living room. They were both on the floor and just staring at each other, but Ben heard Sam return.

"They're so little, aren't they?" Ben said. "Human babies. But I think right now, in this moment, she's smarter than all the rest of the humans in the world. All down hill from here, I'm afraid."

Sam nodded as he knelt down beside them. "Got a question... you found that ritual Dad used to take care of Maggie right? You wouldn't happen to know anything about it, would you? I have someone I would like to have a copy if you do." Not Dean. Never Dean. He wouldn't be able to do it. His father had never had more than friendship with priviledges sort of relationship with Maggie in the first place, add on the years of looking over his shoulder and the torment of his sons and John would have had no trouble sending her to hell in a hand basket. But Dean... Dean wouldn't be able to do it and come through on the other side. "And that person is under no circumstances to be either of my brothers."

Ben took his eyes off Mary for a split second to look at Sam. "See? Right now she's smarter than you. Because I can understand baby gurglings even if you can't." He really couldn't but that was beside the point. "She's saying if you give me a name to give this ritual to, most likely it's going to be a human. Nearly did your father in. And you'll know that name. When you finally cross over to the dark and nasty side, instead of the light side your brothers are on, or even the nice warm gray side I reside in, this person will be the first person you gun for. I've got it. And no matter how evil you get, you still can't hurt me. As for me, I might not be able to kill you myself. But I can hurt you. Keep that in mind that when you go all twisty and come after anything or anyone in association with me, I will hurt you. To the point where you beg for death, but can't die. Mary's a brilliant child, isn't she?"

"Quite brilliant. What does she say about you taking care of business when that time comes so that I don't come back and tear her apart to hurt my brother because we both know that no one can keep vigil 24/7, and you know what sort of bastard I am well on the way to becoming? I don't want them hurt. In fact I would cheerfully walk away from here with you once there is a graceful time to make a permanent exit and let it be taken care of before I get to that point completely. Not really wanting to get to the point that I am what I hunt." And for him that had become solely the realm of demons that took possession of others.

"She says you're an idiot." Ben said seriously. "Do you know how I stay off the radar? Because I stay to my self. I protect what's me and mine, and that's it. You think human hunters and exorcists have the monopoly on hunting? Demons hunt. They hunt humans, they hunt other demons who've gotten out of line. Now, I'm not exactly in line, I'm granted some leeway because I'm older than most the others. Once you get away from that Fallen mess, anyway. But there is a hierarchy. I don't take orders from anyone, but there are rules I follow. I take down a demon, it will get around. And you think you'd be hard to deal with, kid you don't know half of what's out there. Now Maggie, she was a handful. Causing all sorts of disturbances. She hunted humans AND demons, and that's just not allowed. So the rest of them turned a blind eye when I did what I did. And what your father and I did, I'll never tell you. In case I do have to do it, you can't prepare for it. But I cannot do it now. For those reasons and I can't look at Jack and tell him I took away his brother's only chance, however fleeting, of hope before he could act on it. Once it's proven you cannot be saved, you better start looking over your shadowy shoulder because I will turn up. Until then, Mary says practical and honorable and misguided suicide is out."

"I've been crossing that line since I took the deal. They'll likely look the other way, if not try and beat you to me." Sam said as he got to his feet and walked over to the window. They had threatened to enough. Sam had told them to bring it any time, so far no takers.

"Ah, but you're missing the one key point." Ben said. "You haven't gone after me and mine. Maggie had to be taken care of, she was a threat to Jack. Not to mention if she killed his brothers before they ever got to reunite, that would be a bad thing. At least to Jack. Besides, asking me to kill you, isn't that assisted suicide? Thought you were all Catholic now. That has to be against one of their ridiculous rules. So you did take a deal. I thought so. Thanks for confirming that for me. But if you ever remember the first time you met Jack, all that happened, you would know I couldn't do that to Dean. Because if there is a chance to save you, he deserves to try. Probably the only one that can." Sam had gotten them across the barrier. But Dean had gotten the mystical water. Not to mention come back from Death's own doorstep far too many times. "If Dean or Jack ask me, I'll do it without provocation. Because then it's not suicide. Hey, don't look at me, I'm not the one who became Catholic. That's all you."

"Once I become shadow... there is no soul left to worry about. Not that I haven't considered taking a dive sometimes any way, but that would be letting one of the bad guys win, and the Winchester in me just can't do it. I just hope when the time come you're quick on the draw because Dean won't be. And we both know it's inevitable. I think there are a few others out there that might be first on the list.. lovers that haven't died in front of me yet... old friend... but eventually we both know I'll be back here one last time."

"You'll be back here first." Ben said, sitting up. "Because Dean was what kept you irrevocably human for so long. Even now, you're holding back, not changing no matter how much everything inside you is screaming to cross over, because right now you're here for Dean. You two are parasitic off each other. You need him as much as he needs you. Won't change when you become a shadow, just take on a different form. You'll need him dead then."

"Then there is going to be a problem." Even now, no one knew Dean the way he did. "So was that what was going on with Maggie, some sort of love for Dad twisted into hate? I never could wrap my brain around that one. Why she kept coming after us. Even now that I know why she came after me the first time, the others make no sense. "

"It might have been a core reason." Ben said thoughtfully. "First time, she needed your blood. And give John a good scare. For she needed a piece of him too. For Jack. To save him, you didn't know him then, I did. Between her demonic father and me, we barely kept the kid alive long enough for her to fix him. And we're talking some serious demonic power there. The second time, she thought your father went back on his word. The third time...well, I'd tell you. But you'd use it in the future. So I won't." He wouldn't give Sam that nugget on Dean. "But you're not the only special one in the family." That Dean's blood, in its purest unbridled form, because of what John had done, because of Dean himself, it was worth starting a cult over. If you were a demon. Which Sam was well on his way to becoming. Or even a nutcase human like Maggie's father. "Can you hold it together long enough to get Dean through this? Because if not, you're better off walking away right now. Find a shadow and disappear."

"I'm good. My being here causes other problems. Lesser demons coming to enforce Daddy's rule about no interaction." He said rolling his eyes. "With that started, I will stay as long as he actually needs me. Not thinks he needs me. I'll know when he's on the way back." He could read Dean without demonic abilities. Now, well... now he could sense him from across the world he thought. And that frightened him in so many ways.

"You think I'm going to let demons who thrive on misery and pain near this house?" Ben asked. "I don't know whether to pity you for your arrogance or be insulted. Jack and Kaylie will be up Dean's ass for a while. There will be no demonic attacks on this household. You don't live as long as I do without learning a few tricks. Combine that with underhanded hunter tricks, and, well, your brothers and your niece are safe."

Sam sighed and shook his head. He could say the same of Ben. "Anyone can be out numbered and overwhelmed. Everyone makes mistakes." And his had been in coming. He pulled out his cell phone and dialed Bobby's number. He had said he was on his way, where the hell was he? He had guilted him into breaking half of the bargain by coming here, he could damned well be around to deal with the aftermath of it. Ben had no idea how far reaching the yellow eyed fallen had gotten. Humans, lesser demons, other fallen... and those like Sam ... not merely transforming into demons and giving up their mortal remains, but those that were something different entirely. Not quite like their fathers, but not entirely like their bretheren either. But Sam wouldn't continue the conversation now. Ben didn't understand. He couldn't. Sam actually found himself looking forward to the fight with the son of a bitch, and that couldn't be a good sign. "Bobby, where the hell are you?" He asked as the phone was answered.

"I'm in a goddamn metal death trap skating toward the asphalt like a brick on rails." Bobby said. "Then I'm going to get in some poor excuse for a rental car and be at the funeral home fifteen minutes after the wake starts. So you better be there, Sam Winchester." Bobby said as he held onto the arm rest with his free hand as the plane landed. He wasn't afraid of flying, like Dean, he just didn't much like it.

"I am sitting in Dean's living room looking at my niece right now." He said and considered making it sound ominous. It would serve Bobby right. If he had left well enough alone or waited a week to tell him things... "Already had three demons make an appearance. one was standing outside the damned nursery door when I got here..." He shot Ben a look at that one. "I forgot about her. Wonder how she's liking the shadows. I suppose once the wake is done I could go and exorcise her and let the woman go at least but she'll keep for now. The other two tracked us down when I took Dean to sunrise. They've fired the warning shots. What comes next will be for real. You ready for this?" He asked a little curtly.

"Yeah, yeah." Bobby said as the plane landed. "And how's Dean doing? He okay?" Demons could be handled, they always were one way or another. But Dean eating a bullet, that was a whole other problem he didn't want to deal with.

"Four." Ben said. "Four demons. One just happens to be disregarded most of the time." Sam would learn, when he crossed over, why that wasn't a great idea. Ben wasn't the utmost powerful of demons, but he wasn't one to be trifled with either.

"You don't count unless you have suddenly joined forces with a fallen angel." Sam pointed out " Dean is... Dealing about like Dad." He said, knowing that his father wasn't always the brooding, broken man that he had been when he had thought about Mary. He had conversations, he had laughed and joked and faked his way through happiness with his sons. It wasn't all guns and rock salt. Sam could see that now that he was over it. Now that he had made his peace with the ghost of his father inside him. And that was what Dean was doing. he was faking his way through being functional.

"She hasn't even been dead two days." Bobby said. "It's okay for him to be, well, broken right now. It's when he refuses to put himself together that I'd start worrying." Grief was expected, it was natural. It could even be good. "We just all have to get him past that broken stage. All of us, Sam." Because he knew Dean. He knew Sam. Two sides of a single coin if there ever was one. Sam considered himself lost, that was fine. But he wasn't allowed to take Dean with him.

"You asked how he was doing. I answered truthfully. I didn't say it was hopeless or inappropriate." Sam said with a sigh. "Speaking of which, I have to go check on him. We gotta get going here in a minute."

"Fine. I'll be there." Bobby said as he picked up the keys to his rental car. "Sammy, I know he's glad you came."

"I know... I'm glad I am here. Doesn't mean it was the safest decision I have ever made. I'll see you there." He said as he hung up. He headed to Dean's room and knocked on the door before entering. "Hey, Man... you gonna make it?" He asked, knowing that if he asked if he were alright now, the answer would not be his usual, and that worried him.

Dean was dressed. He forgot getting dressed, but he was dressed as his brother came in. "Yeah, I'll make it." He said with a sigh. He got off the bed. "Let's just get this over with before I decide it's really not a good idea." Their father didn't have a wake after all.

"Everyone needs the chance to say their ...peace." Final good byes? Bullshit. There were no final goodbyes. it was a euphamism for getting a little closure. Seeing that they are really truly irrevocably dead. "And maybe if they see you at the wake they won't come by tomorrow with more casserole dishes and condolences. "

"Yeah. I guess." Dean said as he grabbed his jacket. "Ben, if she so much has a gas bubble when I get home, you're waking up in an ice box. I swear it." He said as he picked Mary up and kissed her, putting her in the playpen. "Daddy will be back, he just has to go do something." He looked at Sam. "Come on." He tossed Sam the keys. "You better drive."

It had been a while since he had driven the Impala."Here's hoping she lets me. You know I could actually exorcise the car now." It was an old tired joke now but it was familiar.

"Don't even." Dean said. "And she'll let you drive her. She let Kaylie drive her after all. Went through brake pads like butter, but she let Kaylie drive her. Might not now, though." Now that he wasn't doped up in the back seat. "Just drive. It's on Fourth Street. Only one."

Sam did as Dean asked, and simply drove. The car didn't complain, didn't make strange noises. It wasn't that it had really ever complained about Sam driving. It was just Sam's way of teasing about the strange devotion Dean had to his car. Although it made sense in a strange sort of way.

He parked near the door, and handed Dean the keys back. "Bobby is on his way. Jack and Kaylie will be here, and I'm here. You can get through this. "

"I don't have a choice, Sam." Dean said tiredly. "Last thing I want for Mary is what we had. Then again, it was probably the last thing Dad wanted too." But he made himself get out of the car. The room was starting to fill with solemn, quiet people. Some were crying, others talking in low voices. Kaylie had set up the expected posterboard of pictures of Chavi, and Dean pointedly did not look at her casket. "Okay, two hours, I can do two hours."

Sam rested his hand on his brother's back. This was a pain he knew all too well. Although there hadn't been a wake, he knew the pain Dean was going through, he had felt so lost and alone after Jessica's death. Guilt and anger overrode everything else. It had been Dean and the hunt that had held him together. He smiled sadly at those that came to shake Dean's hand,and meet Sam, who told them politely no, he had never met his sister in law. He had been away on business for the last two years. It wasn't exactly a lie. Not that he could tell them what the business really was, redirecting the conversation when he had to and finally excusing them from all the mourners to get to a seat.

Jack wasn't far behind Sam and Dean. He looked over at Kaylie and shook his head. "I don't know if Sam being here is a good thing, or something that will send him completely over the edge when he leaves again." He said as he parked the car.

"I know." Kaylie said. "I don't know, maybe he's going off the edge anyway, and having what's left of his family all around him right now is only delaying it." She found Sam even odder than the last time she had met him. And privately wondered when Jack and Sam were going to come to blows. Somehow this wasn't the reunion any of them had ever pictured.

"Probably. I just worry what he is gonna do when he loses Sam again on top of everything else. Because we can't let him come back again. He is too close to the edge. Reminds me of my mom... the last little while I had her." He said as his throat tightened. "She loved me, took care of me, played games, cuddled, took me to the fucking zoo to see the tigers... and all the while she was tormenting my father and brothers. So I don't doubt that he loves Dean, and would do anything for him... but I don't want you alone with him... or anywhere close to him while he is here. I don't trust that he has any such warm and fuzzy feelings for anyone else here. "

"I know, I don't plan on being alone with him. Your brother or not, he gives me the wiggins." Kaylie said. "I think even Dean knows that, deep down. After all, Ben's watching the baby, not Sam. And Ben is as unlikely a candidate for that as anyone else I know. Dean realizes more than he wants to admit. It might be easier this time."

"I thought my heart was gonna stop when he offered to baby sit. That was Mom's gig, go after the kids when she really wanted my father. Sam might go after Mary to put the screws to Dean when he goes over the edge completely. Honestly... I wish he hadn't come. But he is helping Dean... I guess so long as we stay vigilant it will be for the best. " He said, getting out of the car. "Okay...time to go pretend this doesn't wig me out and put out the unified brotherly front for Dean's sake."

"It'll be fine." Kaylie said as they entered the funeral home. Between Ben's club and sports bar, Dean's business, and everyone's extended network of friends, there were plenty of people that knew Chavi and Dean. And seemed they came out in droves. Dean spotted Kaylie and Jack walking in, and managed to extricate himself from a weepy woman who was crying all over Dean.

"Excuse me." He said and hurried over to Jack. "You know, it's creepy that mainstream culture waits in line to see a dead body." He said. "You know that, right? It's not like she's even here. Could be a doll for all I really know." Because fifteen feet away was the closest he got.

"You haven't gone over there?" Jack asked, looking around the room, spotting Sam diverting the flow away from Dean. "It's ... you really should, You haven't seen her since the doctors chased you out of the delivery room. " That would come back to haunt him later if he didn't actually go over and say good bye. The lack of finality. The lack of closure.

"I will." Dean said. "Just...later. The minute I take a step over there, you know there's going to be silent period and everyone will start watching me. Maybe when everyone's gone." Maybe. He was still undecided on that. "Did a nice job on the posterboard." He said to Kaylie.

"Thanks." Kaylie said. It was one thing she could do. She and Jack had picked out the outfit Chavi was wearing too.

Bobby came in. He was in a decent suit, nicely pressed, but still had his worn cap on his head as he looked around. He hated funerals. But he came.

Sam looked up seeing Bobby and was relieved. Bobby he could count on if things got ugly. Bobby wasn't an arrogant bastard. He was just damned good and knew it. He had been forged in fires as hot as their father had, and for a good deal longer. If something ugly went down, he could count on Bobby to protect his brother. He excused himself from the woman that was currently filling him in on his deceased sister in law's virtues, to greet the man who was one of his few friends.

"Sam." Bobby said with a nod as Sam came over to him. "Good to see you." Maybe. Jury was still out on that part, but it was good for Dean to see him in any case. "Any strange occurances I should bounce out of here? Or just sit back and relax?"

"Sit back and relax... things haven't gotten twisted yet. Hoping they won't while we are here." Sam said. That would be the last thing Dean needed, which was why Sam figured it was the time they would strike.

"All right." Bobby said. "Wow, Dean knew all these people?" He said, looking around. "But good to see you're holding on right now. And you know what your father would say about that hair."

"Yeah. Who knew me out of his life would lift the curse?" Not the Dean would see it that way. especially not while he was in so much pain. But Sam knew. Dean was in pain, yes, but Dean had so much more even now than he had ever had a chance at in their previous lives. "And Dad wouldn't have said much at this point. He would have handed the shears to Dean and held me down." Sam said with a grin.

"Well, I wouldn't discount it now." Bobby said with a chuckle. "Dean and Jack, they could cut a couple of locks off that mess on top your head now if they really wanted to. Sam, there wasn't a curse. There was just a habit of always moving around. Chasing first your dad, then the demon. There was no curse."

"My conception." Sam said simply, and sincerely believed it. He had believed since he was a little boy that it was his fault his mother had died, the demon had confirmed it in the cabin wearing his father's body, and Dean had confirmed it again with the revelation that he was another creature. Another monster like Maggie. "That's when it all started. " He nodded. "They have bonded real tight. I'm glad." He said changing the subject.

"Well, Dean likes to look after people. Jack has a caretaker streak in him too, and Dean gives him a lot to take care of." Bobby said with a chuckle. "It's not that Jack replaced you, I think the little shit feels threatened that you're back anyway. But Winchester men have never been simple, transparent creatures, have they?"

"Nope." He said with a chuckle. "Don't know that Dad was all that simple before all hell struck either. I know I haven't been replaced. Not yet. Still hoping for that one. " He said in a strange honesty, even though it tore his heart out.

Bobby shook his head. As an outsider looking in, he knew that Sam would never be replaced. Even Dean knew that much. "So how's the baby?" He asked. Nice, neutral topic.

"She is adorable." Sam said with a smile. "And is going to have that Winchester nose in miniature." He laughed a little "Son of a bitch gave her the middle name of Samantha... poor kid."

"Do you two even know what the Winchester nose is? Just saying, you boys and your dad had your noses broken more times than nose job patient." Bobby said with a chuckle. "Yeah, I knew that had to be coming. Coulda made it the first name, you know."

"Oh god... Mary is a good name. I like Mary... Dad would like Mary. Samantha... no. Surprised he wanted the constant reminder. But then Dean was always one for constant painful reminders."

"You're not a constant painful reminder." Bobby said. "You two have a lot of good memories, don't you, kiddo?" The sort of undying loyalty Dean had toward Sam, there had to be good in there.

"Yeah... we do. That's why I wanted to be gone before things got bad... I didn't want him to remember me... like her. You saw the aftermath... I was there... He had a panic attack looking at her picture all these years later. I didn't even want him to see the eyes much less everything else. Didn't want to wipe out all those good times with me being a shadowy bastard ... that evil purple eyed demon... chip off the old block."

"Sam." Bobby said. "He's going to remember the baby he carried out of his burning childhood home. The chubby twelve year old who was happy to read all day. The man who refused to let him die at all, never mind die in peace. Nothing erases that."

"I wish I could believe that." He said sadly. "But I don't... especially not now. Not when I have to fight to keep what's left of... Sam... me... in control...Sometimes I'm more shadow than man. I should have ended it that night, but... I couldn't give up yet."

"Still pissed at me for dragging you here?" Bobby asked. "Thought you were actually going to come to my place and try to kill me or something."

"Not while I still have a body." Sam said. "Murder being a bad thing after all, and finding a confessor to hear my confession to demonic activities ... not likely to happen. Pavel is a bit busy these days." He half grinned. "Still pissed but the longer we last without demonic attack the less angry I am. No guarantees when the body goes since it takes the last of my soul with it."

"Then we'll deal with that then." Bobby said. "Father Pavel is being kept busy, isn't he? Poor old guy. I think he once had dreams of retirement in an apartment in Vatican City. But I suppose rest isn't just denied to the wicked."

"Yeah cause that man doesnt have wicked bone in his body." He started to share an anecdote with Bobby, when he looked up at the door and paled ever more than he already was. "Son of a bitch." He growled. "Get Dean out of here fast before he sees him." He told Bobby, his eyes never leaving the latest guest to arrive, as he strode forward.

Bobby stared in shock for a moment. Of all the low handed tricks...then went over to Dean.

"Dean, I sure was sorry to hear about Chavi." He said, trying to edge him out of the room.

"Bobby." Dean said, with nearly a sigh of relief. A normal person who wouldn't suffocate him with how sorry they were. He'd said his piece and that was it. "Glad you could make it. Jack, you remember Bobby Singer?" He said and was about to immerse himself in friendly reminders when he saw him over Bobby's shoulder. No matter how much Bobby was trying to edge him out of the room, and quickly, he saw him. "Son of a bitch." He snarled and started to push past Bobby to get to him. Where his brother was headed, but all Dean saw was him. The image of John Winchester, but Dean knew it wasn't John Winchester anymore than Dean was.

Jack looked up and followed his brothers stalking across the room. "Oh my god... son of a bitch. Kaylie go home... now... We are going to need Ben here." He said as he joined Sam and Dean in an unexpected sign of solidarity. John Winchester didn't deserve this. He didn't deserve to be used as a cattle prod against his sons.

"Well, well, all the boys together again." 'John' said. "Seem to remember saying this wasn't a good idea at some point."

"Get out." Sam said in anger and exhaustion. "I'm not going anywhere until things are settled here. You've won... so just get over yourself, and out of here."

"Giving me orders? Oh the arrogance of an exorcist. But without your Father Pavel here, you're no threat to me." 'John' said, laughing. He watched as Kaylie gave them a wide berth and ran to the car. "And how is your pretty little girlfriend, anyway, Jack?"

Jack lunged forward only to be held back by Bobby Singer, arriving a split second before the man could attack the demon and start the downhill cascade. He could only hope that Sam and Dean had enough sense to think before acting.

"What the hell do you mean how is his girlfriend. Have you been stalking my brothers?" Sam asked with a frown. "You breaking deals, Dad?" He said the last word sarcastically.

"Our agreement was that you keep away, and I leave your brothers alone. You never said anything about girlfriends." The demon purred and it was Sam that laid the first blow.

"You know that was a deal breaker." He said

"No... no... " he said laughing quietly. "You are the one that pointed out the letter of the law not the spirit of the law with your covert messages, and trip through America's police archives. This is all on you. Like everything else that happens to your family. It all comes back to you, doesn't it Sammy?"

"You shut your mouth." Dean snarled and had a restraining hand put on his chest. Bobby's hand.

"Dean. Think." Bobby said.

"Of course, Dean. Stop and think. It would be such a shame if I had to kill you now. What with your daughter waiting at home for you. But you two know a lot about waiting for your father, don't you?" The demon said with nearly a smirk. "Not as much as he does." He nodded at Jack. "Wondering why Daddy didn't love him enough to come for him, or even call him. Send a card, something. He died for Dean. Sacrificed everything to keep Sammy safe...you sure got the raw end of the deal, didn't you Jackie?"

"What would you know about it?" Jack said, his own voice almost an echo of the one the demon was using. "Then again, you couldn't hold on to him anymore than the rest of us could. I've heard he was in heaven kicking back with their mom."

"Yeah, too bad yours couldn't make it. She isn't dead you know. trapped in some rock somewhere. Believe me if I could find her I would arrange for such a family reunion. Especially now that my boy here has pretty much declared it open season on you Winchesters again. So tell me Dean, was it worth it to see him again, knowing what it's going to bring? Knowing what I am going to do to all of you?"

"You're not going to do anything." Dean said. "You're not going to touch us."

"Or you'll do what? Cry?" The demon mocked.

"Maybe. Humans tend to do that." Ben said from behind the demon. "But declaring open season on MY family, you know better than that." Kaylie had come to Dean's in a panic. Not quite sure what was going on, but recognizing Jack's urgency. Ben had a feeling, and came straight away. Could he kill a Fallen? No. Could a Fallen kill him? Unfortunately, no. But it would be one hell of a Mexican stand off.

"Your family?" He said. "You don't have a family." The demon turned to face Ben. "You have a list of promises and a list of secrets and you keep them. That's all you do, it's all you are. An accident of creation. Neither fish nor foul and you are no Winchester, so go on about your mourning over the dead bitch you were fool enough to touch."

"There is a funeral going on here." Bobby said. "Why don't you boys step out side before you break out the tape measures?" He said as though he were speaking to a couple of unruly drunks.

"Good idea." Ben said and walked outside. Dean fixed the demon with a hard glare and brushed past him outside. His wife's wake was not going to be disrupted by this son of a bitch.

"Come on." Bobby said with a sigh, shaking his head as he urged Jack and Sam outside. Ben lit a cigarette as soon as he was outside. Taking all the self control inside him not to really start a war, calling his own deceased wife a bitch. "What are you doing here?" Bobby demanded of the demon. "Rubbing salt in wounds? Don't think right now anyone notices."

"They will later." The demon said. "Amazing how the truth comes out, isn't it?"

"You speak of truth?" Ben spat. "The very word gets twisted in your mouth."

"It's the way of demons. Even those like you, born of a woman. You twisted the truth around that boy's head so tight, I am amazed he is still such a Winchester. John might be in heaven, but what a sight to look down on. His three sons. The failure, the demon and the wannabe. Then again I suppose they are all failures in their own unique ways."

"Shut up." Jack growled.

"What are you gonna do about it, little boy? Cry for mommy?" He asked with a grin. "Or maybe Daddy. He wouldn't even look at you, would he? Couldn't stand the sight of you because you were born of a demon whore. Pretty pathetic one at that. Couldn't even manage to twist John Winchester into a knot with his boys lives in her hands. "

"You're still pissed even you couldn't twist and kill John." Bobby said. "He's dead because he let you kill him. Big difference there."

"He was dead the moment I killed Mary." The demon said smugly. "I just gave him an out. His mother was nothing but a whore to scratch an itch with. He thought he might live for the other two, but they were such disappointments. Now they're all just toys for me to play with. Sam made sure of that, didn't you?" He chuckled. "Sam, always the good son. The smart one. The law abiding one. The one with real balls. The other two couldn't possibly measure up, and he wasn't even really John's son."

"Now I know you are full of shit." Sam said. "Or delusional. So go home already. Don't make me break out the ritual. Three of us here wouldn't enjoy it much. Although Ben and I might manage to hang on through it just to see the look on your face."

"Don't mind Sam. He still holds pretty little Jess against me. He'll get over it." The demon laughed. "Then again... who knows looks like a pattern here. John couldn't save Mary, Sam couldn't save Jessica... Chavi died on ole Dean here- probably just anxious to get away from him and the squalling brat... gotta wonder though... if Kaylie is gonna be the one... the one that lives. Or is she just going to be another notch in my proverbial belt?"

"You had nothing to do with Chavi." Dean said through clenched teeth.

"You sure about that?" The demon said. Sure, he hadn't. That had been an act of nature, pure and simple. But why let one of John's boys off the hook?

Jack struggled against Bobby, but the hunter had no small amount of experience keeping people and things put when he wanted them put. "You stay away from her, you lying son of a bitch!"

Sam sighed, and pulled the rosary out of his pocket and wrapped it around his han. "You had nothing to do with Chavi." He said produced a well worn book and opened it. Not because he didn't remember it, but because there were ways to do things. "Sorry Ben." He said as he made the sign of the cross then looked into the eyes that mimicked his father's eyes. "Last chance..." He offered the demon.

"Still trying to be the good little Winchester boy. You aren't Sam, you're a demon and every word you read burns like hot coals. Did your priest tell you why? Because God has turned his back on you and all things holy reject you as well."

Ben took over holding Jack back. He knew when the younger man was flamingly angry, and this was one of those times. "You better hope these three don't figure out how to kill you." Ben said. "Because then they'll be gunning for you instead of the other way around."

"Such threats." The demon said. "I'm surprised at you Ben. All your stance on neutrality. You think by doing a few good deeds here and there you can buy your way into heaven? Or that it will buy your beloved's way out of hell?"

Ben wasn't bound by any promise where the demon was concerned. And whatever bargain Sam had struck with the demon, didn't apply to Ben. So he felt no trepidation on slugging the son of a bitch. Besides, he had the best chance of making good contact, he existed in this world, but not at the same time. And watched with a smirk as he knocked the demon on his ass. Because in human form, even as ghostly as it was, the demon was bound by the laws of physics. What goes up must come down.

"Do it, Sam." Ben said. Bobby knew what was coming and took his flask out and tossed it to Ben. Might help if he could fortify himself first.

Sam smiled slowly. "All creatures have a chance at redemption, And no one is sent to hell for love." He told the demon before he began to read the ritual. It burned, but it was a pain Sam was accustomed to, a pain he could bear. His voice resonated with the ancient words rising in pitch as the yellow eyed demon yelled profanity against it. He took his own flask from the breast pocket of his suit and twisted the cap off with a practiced hand and sprinkled the holy water at the appropriate times. Droplets hitting his fingers, and blisters rose.

"You know nothing, boy. You are just making this worse. I will rip the flesh from their bones before your eyes. You belong to me, Samuel. You are mine!"

"Shut up." Ben said, venting all the pain the exorcism was giving him. Pain he would have rather not relived at any point in his long life. But he vented it into rage against the demon.

Dean and Bobby joined in with the parts they knew, Bobby knowing more of the longer ritual than Dean. But Dean saw the blisters and took the flask. He could sprinkle holy water as well as anyone. With a howl, the demon disappeared. Or maybe dissipated and vaporized was a better word. Not that he was truly exorcised, not by a long shot. But he'd been suitably convinced this was a fight for another day.

Sam took several deep breaths before putting things away. "Damn that gets harder every day." He said. "Sorry about the discomfort there." He said to Ben. "But we should be able to finish the wake in peace, however. " Unless he retaliated right away but he doubted that would happen.

Jack was instantly on the phone to Kaylie. "Baby, you alright?" He asked her, as she answered Dean's home phone.

"No problem." Ben said with a groan. "Let's just not do that again for a while, okay? I'd rather be stuck in a walk in freezer."

"I'm fine." Kaylie said. "I'm feeding the baby. Jack, what's going on?"

"An unwelcome demonic visitor wearing John Winchester's face. But he's gone now. They made him leave. You have the windows and doors protected right?" He asked. Glancing worriedly at Ben. He wasn't liking this at all but there was nothing he could do about it. He didn't figure anyone was particularly happy about it all.

"Of course." Kaylie said. "This is Dean's house after all. Salt and brick came standard. Look, I gotta go. Mary's starting to, well, smell. I love you and be careful." She said. Demonic visitors to a wake, and not the good demonic kind either. The kind that made Jack usher her away in a panic were never good.

"Well, anyone else had their fill of family bonding the Winchester way?" Dean asked as he examined his brother's hands. Because checking Sammy over for wounds was an old habit.

"Coulda done without it." Ben said, taking a long pull off Bobby's flask before handing it back.

"Dean, I'm fine. I'm used to it. Just a blister." It was nothing compared to the pain that came with the ritual. Or for that matter communion that he planned to take the following morning. He didn't look at the pain as a rejection of himself, but a rejection of the evil within. Every blister, every moment of pain was a little more of the evil eaten away even if for just a little while.

"Yeah... Let's go and reassure the visitors and pay our respects properly. Kaylie is in the middle of a diaper change... you are so going to owe her." Jack told Dean.

Dean chuckled a little. "Yeah I know." He said as they made their way in. The wake went quietly, everyone assuming the new widower had needed some air. Wasn't unheard of. Of course, people always chose to see what they wanted to see. And when it was finally just Dean, Sam, Jack and Bobby in there (Ben having decided to stay outside and chainsmoke) he looked at his brothers. "Could you, I don't know, give me a minute? I'll be out in a minute." He said, leaving his brothers to approach his wife's casket.

Sam walked with the other men outside. "Go on and wait. I'll make sure he's okay." Sam said as he stepped into the darkness, watching his brother. Not so much to see how he handled saying good bye but to make sure there were no further attacks. He knew they would be waiting for the next oportunity to appear, to torment them before swooping in for the kill.

Dean sat by the casket for a long time. He was silent, because he didn't see the point in talking to a corpse. He just thought. And thought. Silently, as the tears poured down his cheeks, unnoticed by him. He didn't notice them at all, so he didn't bother to wipe them off. Of course he also thought he was alone. He definitely wasn't out in a minute. He didn't move until the funeral director politely told him it was time to close. They had already delayed closing by a good chunk of time. Dean looked at him nearly in surprise, as if he didn't know where he was at first, then nodded, taking the tissues the director had offered discreetly and wiping his face. He blew his nose and threw the tissues out.

"I'll see you as soon as I can." He whispered to his wife, kissed her forehead and quickly left. Before he thought better of it.

Sam exited the home, reappearing behind a tree, making a show of being on his cell phone. It wouldn't do for Dean to know he had been spied upon. That hadn't been Sam's reasoning. He had never been more grateful for a small child's existence howerver, because in those moments, if there had been no Mary... there very likely would be no Dean.

He closed the phone and walked over to the others. He didn't ask if Dean were okay, even though not so very long ago it would have been the first words out of his mouth a hundred times a day. There was no need to ask the question he knew the answer to. Dean was not okay, he was not alright, he was not fine. And there was no reason he should be.

"Hey." He said, as he joined them. "Want me to drive back to the house?"

"Yeah." Dean said and handed over the keys. Ben found his own way home, and Bobby looked at Jack.

"Come on kid, you can ride with me. This way I know where I'm going." He said. Since Kaylie had taken Jack's car back to Dean's already.

Jack nodded. He figured his brothers needed all the time alone they could get. But he was still leery of it all. "Okay. That works. Nice to finally meet you." He told Bobby, watching as Sam took the keys and walked with Dean over to the Impala. "So... you don't mind if I pick your brain do you?" He asked.

"Nope, go ahead." Bobby said as he led the way to his rental car. "And we've met. You just don't remember. I think I remember you drinking pretty hard at Dean's wedding." Bobby said with a chuckle. "Surprised you found your way home after that one."

"Kaylie drove me home...and almost drowned me in the shower after that sobering me up." He laughed a little sheepishly. "Wow I got a tongue lashing from her over that... wondered why Dean was so pleased with me after that. " He shrugged. "You see... Dean has this view of my father that goes back and forth between him being a saint and martyr to him being a cold hearted son of a bitch depending on how much he is missing Sam and how much he has had to drink. I guess I wanted another opinion. I also understand you knew my mom before she went completely psycho." Jack had no idea he was getting into the car with one of the original 'bad men' one of the hunters that had very nearly taken his life, and had driven his mother to make the bargain in the first place.

Bobby looked at Jack and started the car. "Better give me the long way directions." Bobby said as he pulled out of the parking lot. "John...he wasn't a simple man." He said. "I didn't know him before his wife was killed, didn't meet him until a few years after that actually. By then the hunt for the yellow eyed bastard demon had pretty much consumed him. But he was a good father, he did what he could with what he had. Those boys, especially after your mom kidnapped them the first time," since Jack seemed to want honesty, "had to know how to protect themselves. With everything after them, to do less would be killing them. Maybe he put too much on Dean, expected him to grow up faster than he should have. He was probably wrong to make Dean Sam's primary caretaker. To get him into the hunt as early as he did. But he did what he could with what he had. Your mom...Jack, honestly I never liked her. I found her to be a self righteous bitch in the best of times. Way before she went evil. Always had to be right, had a temper on her as wild as any storm under the ice princess facade she tried to fool us with. Then again, there might be a reason why I'm a cranky old bastard. But John, he liked to work with her. Even before they started, well, you get the picture. You were born after all."

"Mom... was opinionated. Even at 6 I could see that." He said with a faint laugh. "She didn't go after them the first time to be cruel... not the first time... after that I guess she was consumed by something. My only memories of my father are of him standing at that window... refusing to look at me... telling me to call him John. " He said. "I don't know how I feel about his parenting skills. I'm trying to be open minded. Guess I can't say I figured he was a bad parent. You can't be that way with kids and get the kind of loyalty that he has from Dean. He might have put up with a lot from himself but he wouldn't have forgiven anything done to Sam. It's because of our father that Dean is that dependant on him, isn't it?"

"Your dad was a marine. He took responsibility seriously." Bobby said. "His boys were across that wasteland because of him. And they were the only reminder he had of the man he used to be. A man he liked a lot better than the man he became. He wasn't ever abusive though, get that thought out of your head. Not to Sam, not to Dean. You...well, I'm not sure he was convinced you actually existed then. And not some illusion made by your mother to hurt him. Your mom sprung you on him, he had no idea you were even there until she brought him back, wounded, possibly dying. And he knew the life he was giving Dean and Sam wasn't the best, it was just the only one he had to offer." He breathed out at the last question. "Yeah, it is. Got chewed out for that one too by Amos, an old Indian I introduced John to. He, ah, well, John didn't think he had a choice, not with what he knew about Sammy."

He nodded. "Yeah. I understand." Didn't make it any easier. Still didn't change anything. He supposed nothing would. "So...what do we expect next from this demon? So nice of him to crash the party." Maybe talking about his father wasn't a good idea, but damn seeing his face like that. Hearing his voice. How was he to not focus on it at least a little.

"This demon...killed Dean and Sam's mother. Killed Sam's girlfriend. Killed a lot of other mothers of other children like Sammy. Possessed John and tortured Dean nearly to death. Then arranged for the car crash to hopefully finish them off." Bobby said. "Made John choose between his own life and Dean's. He's a nasty son of a bitch. Had some of his more smoky children going around killing friends of ours." Pastor Jim. Caleb. "What can we expect from him? Anything you could possibly imagine and worse. This is a war your brothers are in. Just by association, you're being pulled into it."

"That started after the trial. When Kaylie was taken " Jack said, told Bobby to turn left. "Gonna make a stop by a liquor store. I think Dean is out of Tequila. I think it's going to be one of those nights. There isn't any way to stop the bastard or John would have done it long before now. So we just what... hang around and watch Sam torture himself with attempted exorcisms until they succeed in getting through?"

"Well, Sam we can handle. Djinn bindings work on ones like Sam, and your mom." Bobby said. "As for the big pain in our ass, well, I know of only one thing that will kill him. A gun, strangely enough. But John traded that for Dean's life also. So we're back to square one on that one. I'm working on Sam's half. Got a friend working on it, hopefully he'll come up with something. And we'll need tequila. Tequila, whisky and beer."

"Working on something to save Sam? It seems like it's too late for that. But what do you mean Djinn bindings. Is that what they did to my mother? Bound her into something like a djinni in a bottle?"

"That's exactly what they did. Then Ben took her someplace that even if she manages to crawl out, she wouldn't be able to find her way back here." Bobby said. "That wasn't your mother anymore. Your mother had ceased to exist, that's when Ben took you wherever he took you."

Jack sighed and leaned back against the seat of the car. "I know. That's what I have been told by Ben. That it wasn't her anymore. But it's words, you know. It's an abstract concept that someone isn't themselves anymore. It's something you say when people go insane, but it's not true. Still the same person. Do I want her back? Not as she is. I don't think Dean would want Sam back all the time the way he is now, either. But it was my mother. Here's the liquor store." He said.

"Sit tight, I'll get the booze." Bobby said and pulled into the liquor store. He came out a short time later with two bags full of bottles. "I know how Winchester men drink." He said with a chuckle. "Just to be clear, we didn't know you were in the house." He said quietly. "My brother and Bill Harvelle, they'd done the research. The recon. They said Maggie was alone, and maybe it was our fault for trusting them. But they paid for that mistake. The rest of us have too." He thought of his brother dying in his arms long ago. Of how John was punished, though he had nothing to do with it really, through Dean and Sam. How he continued to be punished knowing that he had another son out there that he couldn't see. Even Ellen and Jo, completely unrelated to the whole thing, uninvolved as anyone could possibly be, were punished.

Jack felt his chest tighten. This was not what he had expected. He had never expected to see one of the bad men, had never thought of them as anything more than an abstract concept. Yet here he was face to face, hell sitting in the car with, one of the boogey men from his childhood. "Wow." He said and swallowed hard. "I didn't realize that you... ahm... wow."

"Yeah." Bobby said and put the car back into gear. Nothing more to say on that subject. "So which way to Dean's?" John would have been proud of this one, Bobby was sure. Seemed to have a good head on his shoulders, and a lot of guts on top of that.

Jack gave him directions, all the while comparmentalizing what was going on with him in that moment. He had spent his entire life hating the abstract of this man. But the man himself... it was hard. "You know... the family business as Dean calls it... sucks ass. Seems like it does nothing but cause alot of misery on both sides. That whole no good deed goes unpunished crap...on both sides."

"Yeah, it does." Bobby said with a nod. "But Dean, he doesn't see it that way. He sees the people he's helped instead. Don't know if you've noticed, but your brother's priorities are a little skewed. As in skewed away from himself. Thinking like that, I'm still surprised he hasn't gotten himself killed yet."

"From what I have heard he has a few times, but someone always comes through to save his bacon at the last moment. Sam, John... too bad you guys don't come with insurance. Life, health, malpractice." He said with a faint smile that he didn't feel. It was a lot to process. His life had nearly ended because of this man. Because of some stupid careless mistake in research of all things.

"Yeah, well, no carrier will cover us. Don't think I haven't looked into it." Bobby said with a chuckle as he followed Jack's directions until he pulled up in front of Dean's house. The Impala was there, and an even older Impala (Jack's rebuilt remade courtesy of Dean car). "So far so good, everyone seems to have made it back fine."

"That's good." Jack said as he got out of the car, taking the booze with him so Bobby could take his luggage in. "Hey, " He said as he entered the house, scanning the room for Kaylie, to make sure she was there and fine. Her abduction in the past had almost killed him. He couldn't bear that again.

"She's in the bathroom." Ellen said, coming out of the kitchen. She had seen Jack scanning the room for someone, had to be his girlfriend. She was the only one not in the room right now. "I'm Ellen Harvelle. Shame to meet under the circumstances. My daughter's in the kitchen, I put her to work on the dishes. I, well, I knew your mom. And your dad for that matter."

"Ellen runs a roadhouse we've stopped by." Dean said, playing subduedly on the floor. Well, waving a brightly colored bear over his daughter's face at any rate. "Ellen, that's my brother Jack."

Jack extended his hand to the woman. Harvelle. Bobby had mentioned a Bill Harvelle. Had to be related. Well if this wasnt a day from hell he didnt know what was. "It's nice to meet you. Hopefully the memories of my parents aren't being held against me." He said with a laugh. He could cover. He could. He didn't have to show how he was feeling about all of this. Today wasn't about him and his issues. It was about Dean.

"Honey, I just run a bar." Ellen said with a laugh. "Your father was a pain in everyone's asses, God rest his soul, and anyone who tells you different is on a hallucinogen or lying. Your mother, well, my direct memories of her are fond. We were like family once. Come on, give me the bag. I know a thing or two about booze."

You wouldn't have known that Jack was tense until he relaxed. He handed over the bottles. "Bobby said we would need a lot. We run out I know where else to go. Ben owns a strip club and I have keys to the storage room."

Sam chuckled at that from his position on the floor. "Yeah that would be amusing. Sorry Ben, raiding the club to get a bunch of hunters drunk."

"Tax write off." Ben said, "Then I'd just charge you all for them is all." Being in a room with this many hunters was weird. And uncomfortable.

Kaylie came out of the bathroom. "Jack!" She said and went over to him. Sure he'd called her after that demon disappeared. But he was still the last to arrive. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm good." He said as he closed his arms around her. "No one got hurt except for a little blister on Sam's finger. We're good. How about you?"

"I'm fine." She said with a sigh of relief. Today was a tough day all around.

"Get a room you two." Dean said with a laugh as he cracked open a bottle. "I can honestly say there are now innocent virgin eyes watching you."

"You see more than this on Disney." Jack said laughing as well. God he needed a drink. He seriously needed a drink. Well at least there was one person in the room with fond memories of his mother. He would have to talk to her later. Take some of the curse off of the memories he had. He was playing it cool as far as Bobby was concerned. There was remorse for his pain there. But none for his mother. Never mind it was that moment that she had been lost. Sacrificed herself for him.

Jo came in with some food, Ellen rationed out the booze. She knew how hunters could drink. And though she didn't know Jack at all, if genetics held...well, she knew how John could drink. And quickly led everyone into a conversation that could come no where near Chavi, or hunting or anything of that sort. It was difficult, but she didn't run a road house for nothing.

"Okay, Jo and I are going to head back to the hotel." She said as the hour grew late. She embraced Dean. "Sweetie, you and that little girl are going to be all right. I promise." She said. All Dean could do was nod. "Sam, honey, I don't know what you're going through, but it'll work out."

"Thanks." Sam told her with a smile. Ellen wasn't in the know. Not really. She wasn't stupid but she and Jo weren't on the need to know list, either. "It's good to see you again.. Missed our talks."

Jack handed the keys over to Kaylie and pushed himself to his feet. Oh yeah... definitely not driving anywhere. "Yeah we should get home too. "

Kaylie laughed and helped Jack the rest of the way to a standing position. "Yup, time to pour the boyfriend into bed and hope he doesn't drunkenly snore." She said.

"Hey, that's what you get for the whole living in unabashed delightful sin." Dean said. "Right, Sammy? You're the Catholic now. You tell me."

Sam laughed. "Yeah I think snoring is one of those natural consequenses things, still have to do penance for that one."

"Snoring is purgatory, Hell is when he pukes on her." Jo said in parting as she and her mother headed out the door.

"He wouldn't dare." Kaylie said. "Would you? Oh god, do you have to sleep on the couch tonight?"

Dean laughed. "Crazy kids. Bobby, you grabbing a bed?" He asked as Bobby nodded and grabbed his overnight bag to throw into one of the guest rooms. Dean nodded to Sam. He wasn't stupid, that drunk, or that out of his mind. They were afraid of reprisal, so Bobby and Sam were sticking around. "I can pull out the air mattress and you guys can crash here." He said to Jack and Kaylie.

"Why don't we put the mattress in the nursery? Or are we pulling the crib into your room?" Sam asked. Personally he wanted to be right where Dean and Mary were. He trusted the others to do their best but he was the one that had the best chance of getting between the demons and Dean. He wasn't planning on sleeping until after mass the following day. He was used to lack of sleep now. Side effect of the job. Insomnia was pretty common in the slow times.

"Nah, she's sleeping with me." Dean didn't move much in his sleep, never really had. The one time when the perpetual motion machine was motionless. His father used to joke that he was just recharging his batteries. And newborns didn't move much either, so they were fine in the bed. He could keep a much closer eye on her that way. "So, seriously, guys, you two can crash here."

"Go ahead and take one of the guest rooms. I'll keep watch tonight. I don't sleep much anymore. " He grinned at Bobby. "Comes with the territory. Sad thing is I can still be out done by a septigenarian. Did he tell you I passed out after our first exorcism. 5 days... we fought that thing for 5 days straight. I don.t make it out of the room. He gets me tucked in at the hotel, orders room service, takes a shower and goes to bed like any other day."

"That's because you're a wimp." Dean said as he gathered up the baby. He went into his room, came out with a big shirt for Kaylie and sweats for Jack, since they were still in their formal wake clothes. "And I'm serious man. No sex. If I'm not having sex in my house, no one's having sex in my house." Oddly, it wasn't a painful thing to say. Because even if Chavi had lived, he wouldn't have gotten laid for about six weeks anyway.

The night, as well as the next few days passed uneventfully. At least demonically. Sam kept watch, did his best to help his brother through this, but it was rough. Especially when they could sense the time was coming for Sam to leave. He had stayed as long as he could, but that morning at mass, he found it painful to even cross the threshold of the church. It was then that he knew his time was coming to an end. And it was time to leave.

He entered Dean's house and gave Bobby a look that said everything. "Can ahm.. you give me a few minutes with Dean?" He asked.

"He's in the garage." Bobby said, who had been relegated to babysitting. But she was sleeping in her bassinet and he was watching NASCAR so it wasn't that big a deal. Sam nodded and headed through the house to the connected garage, Bobby watching him with sad eyes.

It wasn't his professional garage, but Dean needed to keep busy right now. So he was under the Impala changing the oil. He heard the door open and slid out from under it. "Sam, you're back early."

"Yeah, mass didn't work out this morning." He said. "So ahm... I ... wow... " He swallowed hard. "I have to go." He didn't want to leave him. He was days, maybe hours, away from eternal darkness, and he didn't want to leave his brother. He shouldn't have come. "I've got this job I have to go do. I hate to go. I really do."

Dean sighed. "Yeah, I know." He said. He should be used to it. Everyone left him eventually, right? "It's not a job, is it?" He could still read Sam. And he wasn't blind to what he was seeing anyway. "Then you should go." Because I haven't figured out a way to save you. Because I let myself get sidetracked. Forgive me. But that went unsaid.

"I know." He said, the tears welling in his eyes as he stood there staring at his brother. "I'm gonna leave some things here." He said. "The rosary is for Mary... My books are for you... I know you haven't retired. Who knows... the journals might come in handy. " This was really the end. He was going to fade into nothing. " I'm sorry." He said. "Go watch a sunrise for me every now and again, okay?"

Dean badly wanted to assure his brother that it wasn't over. Not yet. It wasn't over. But right now, it sounded like empty promises, a drowning man grasping for anything to save himself. His cheek twitched as he blinked away tears of his own. "No, I'm sorry, Sam." He said. What else could you say? He couldn't say 'behave.' He couldn't say 'remember me.' He couldn't say 'stop by for a beer sometime.' There wasn't anything to say. So he swallowed. "Maybe someday."

"Tomorrow. Take Mary out and watch it tomorrow... watch it through the window... watch it at the park... watch it from the front seat of the Impala. It doesn't matter, but watch it. " He looked at his brother, one last time and simply walked across the floor to the shadows and disappeared. Going to find his own sunrise, wondering if he could chase it around the world.

Dean was borderline unbearable for the rest of the day. He didn't say one word to anyone except Mary. And poured over documents. He called Ash. He called Joshua. Everyone he could think of. Bobby tried to call Father Pavel, but wasn't able to get ahold of him. For a very good reason.

Two days later, the elderly, hunched over, frail priest knocked on Dean's door. Bobby answered it, and Father Pavel took one look around. "I have come too late." He said mournfully.

Jack looked up at the man who entered. Sam's Priest. "Yeah... ahm... a couple of days ago he left again." Jack had been waiting for the man to return, because that was how it worked. He would go insane and cross over into shadows then all hell would bust loose.

"You must be Jack. Sam spoke of you." Not nearly as often as he had of Dean, but he had been mentioned. "I am Father Pavel. I was...stuck in Rome." In the Vatican Archives, which held so many secrets the world couldn't even dream about. But one of them had panned out. He'd parted ways with Sam so he could enter into his research, in a place where, no matter how well intentioned Samuel was, he could never follow. Because of the darkness. "Perhaps we are not too entirely late."

Dean came in, washed his hands, and saw the strange priest. "Sorry, Father, I don't donate to organized religions. Try next door, they're real Bible beaters I hear."

"And you must be Dean." Father Pavel said with a slight smile.

"This is the priest Sam talked about. " Jack said by way of introduction. This entire situation was bringing up far too much baggage of his own. Baggage he kept buried for Dean's sake mostly. Hard to cry on a guy's shoulder about your missing mother when she was his first torturer.

"Pavel." Bobby said, following in after Dean. "I've been trying to get a hold of you for days. It's good to see you."

"I wish I could have arrived earlier." Pavel said as Dean gestured he could sit down. He carefully took off his coat and his hat and laid them next to him, setting his battered suitcase at his feet. "I did receive your messages, Robert, but I could not come until now."

"About what?" Dean said. "My brother? He's gone. And you know why."

"That is right, it is about your brother, Samuel." Father Pavel said, nodding. "I might have found the key to restoring his soul to his body."

"He couldn't go into the church the day he left." Bobby said. "But very definitely had a body." He pointed out and clasped Dean's shoulder. Hope was a double edged blade. He hoped it didn't bite his young friend in the ass this time but having the chance to try might actually make all the difference.

"It's possible to do that?" Jack asked, shaking his head slowly. He wasn't up to dealing with this. He had nothing against it all coming together for Sam in the 11th hour but the fact that Bobby was so excited... the man who had wanted to kill his mother before her soul had ever started to decline...was overjoyed at bring Sam back from the depths... had been working from the beginning to save him... it was insult to injury, even if he did want Sam back as much as the rest of them did.

"It is." Father Pavel said. "Though it's only been done once before successfully. It's...nearly a reverse exorcism, to put it in layman's terms."

"Okay." Dean said, carefully. Careful to not get his hopes up too high. "What do we need?"

"A nice group would be nice. A way of luring Samuel to a secure location." Father Pavel said. "And of course, luck."

"Secure location. How secure are we talking?" Jack asked, sucking it up yet again. One more time just suck it up and forget. It was years ago... she was long gone, just suck it up and forget. Cause Winchesters had so much luck with that in the past right?

"Devil's trap work on him? Cause I can tell you he is too strong to hold down with a few leather straps." Bobby told them. He didn't know where to go with it. "Can probably spot weld a few chains in place that might hold him for a minute or three, don't know about a trap though.. not until it's too late. Then he'll be looking for us. Sam is an impatient one."

Dean was thinking. "On it. We put him on it." He said. "We'll use the garage, cover the place with traps. Is blessing chains to hold down Sam covered in your god given authority, Father?"

Father Pavel nodded. "It is. They must be strong chains. Perhaps etched with symbols in their own rights." He opened his suitcase and pulled out a worn portfolio, taking out ancient papers. "Please be careful with these, I have to return them."

Jack stood up and went to look over Bobby's shoulder as he laid out the papers to look at them without handling them overly much. "okay, the chains I can manage in probably by this after noon if Dean doesnt mind sacrificing a few heavy duty tow chains" He said "Question is where to anchor them that Sam cant destroy with a dirty look. "

"We anchor him in the pit." Dean said. "Hopefully all the traps, and get the ritual started right away, he'll be...weakened...enough." This was going to hurt his brother. He knew it, could nearly feel it himself. And he was going to be doing the hurting. "I'll wash them out with holy water before we lay down the trap markings." Oh god, that was going to burn.

Jack looked at Dean. "It's alright. If it brings him back... if it has a chance of bringing him back... he would gladly take the pain. I don't need to know him well to know that. He wasn't going to mass and performing exorcisms because he enjoyed the pain. He was doing it for a chance. This is his chance... and it's your chance for closure no matter what happens. " He knew how Dean was feeling. He knew that look of guilt and horror that he tried to hide.

Bobby looked up then. "And you can't back out. No matter how much Sam seems to be in pain, no matter how much he begs or accuses. You're his anchor in this world and you have to be front and center. " He warned him.

Dean took a deep breath. "Got it." He said, nodding. Because there really was no other choice.

"Your brother may not survive this." Father Pavel warned. "It's always a chance."

"Sam would rather be dead anyway if this doesn't work." Dean said. Of that he was sure. Sam had begged Dean to kill him before, when he wasn't all...like he was now. "I can do this. No backing out. We're going to get this done."

"Good man." Bobby said. "Now, Any idea on how to get Sam into a position to chain him down in the first place? All the resolve in the world won't amount to a hill of beans if we can't get him pinned down." He said as he began to sketch the symbols he was going to put on the shackles on a napkin.

Jack pulled out his cell phone and called the one man he knew that could possibly pin down Sam long enough to put him in the circle in the first place. "Ben... you're gonna kill me but I have a favor to ask."

"I hate it when you start a conversation like that." Ben said. "Do I even want to know what this favor is? And how much am I going to want to kill you?" Ten to one it had something to do with one of his brothers.

"Oh probably enough to be willing to buy my head stone." Jack said honestly. He knew how much Ben hated to be involved. "We have a possible way of being able to put Sam's soul back in his body. Trouble is we need someone to go get him, and bring him back... hold him down long enough in a created holy place to shackle him." Oh yeah Ben was going to want to kill him. But Jack couldn't not ask. Dean needed it.

Ben was silent for a moment as he moved from the outer club to his office, locking the door behind him. Processing this. Nephilim, holy ritual, holy places. "And this is the only way they've come up with?" He asked quietly. It was quite possible Jack didn't understand the full metal of what he was asking. And he'd hate to have to tell him.

"Yeah... it is." He said. "Apparently it's a long shot as it is. But either he comes back to us or he dies before he ..." Jack's jaw clenched. "Before he turns out like my mom. He has people that give a damn enough to find a way even if it is a long shot." Unlike his mother. "Had to .. had to ask... I understand... I really do... so if you can't do this... or if it's going to be too dangerous for you... I understand." He did. He didn't really want to ask, but he couldn't not at the same time. "Wow this is insane."

"It's completely insane." Ben said. "And some people gave a damn, they just couldn't do anything about it. Call me when it's time to get Sam. Then you'll see why." And he hung up the phone. This would be...painful. And he'd need to prepare. By drinking massive amounts of booze.

"Ben? Wait-" He frowned into the phone. "Damn it... okay... I am a newbie here, and therefore don't get a lot of this... esoteric religious demon vs. hunter vs god thing...so someone want to fill me in on why Ben is sounding so horribly resigned about doing what I just asked."

"You asked Ben?" Dean said. That thought hadn't crossed his mind. He was thinking more along the lines of a lure, but each one he thought of was rejected. He looked at Bobby, who shook his head.

"May I ask?" Father Pavel said. "Who is this Ben?" Sam might have mentioned him, but Father Pavel was human, he couldn't be expected to remember everything.

"Ben...ah..." Now how to explain this to a priest? "He, ah, raised Jack here, after his mom was...lost." Bobby said, tactfully. "He's, well, he's not quite human. I don't know the whole story on him, but I know he's, well. He's part demon. Part enough to travel in flame, do freaky things with flame, and look damn presentable for his age."

"He is half demon but he isn't one of the bad guys. He doesn't go around eating people or tempting them... well ... unless you count owning a strip club as an act of evil he is pretty much neutral. But definitely demonic. They aren't all bad you know." Jack said the last rather firmly. Not wanting Ben outed and suddenly hunted by those that didn't have the sense to know that it mattered if they were evil or not.

"Child, I am an exorcist and a priest. I do not 'hunt'." Father Pavel said, reading through the lines quite nicely. "It is not my place to judge who is bad and who is good. That is far beyond me. I help where I can, possession is inherently evil. This does not sound like a possessing demon." Dean nodded at that to confirm it. "But he is demonic. Which means the presence of holy idols, symbols and words will not be pleasant for him."

"Not pleasant... that's a euphemism for hurt like hell. Is there any chance it will kill him too if it goes wrong? Or if he is in there too long because even I know that if those circles are gonna trap Sam... they will trap him?"

Father Pavel was honest. "I do not know. This ritual has been performed once, and never in my lifetime. Possibly never in this Ben's lifetime." Everyone, human or demon, was 'this person' until he met the person face to face. It was just his way. "If you do not mind, perhaps I can discuss the ramifications of this with this Ben face to face?"

Jack shook his head, not in refusal but in rejection of all that was going on. "He's only doing this because of me. When he gets Sam to the site... you have to find another way of getting him in there." Jack said heading into the kitchen, going straight for the Tequila.

"He's right." Dean said. "We gotta think of another way."

"There might not be another way." Bobby said. "And I say that if Ben wants to do this, we let him. Cause we could use all the help we can get."

"You guys don't get to take my dad too." Jack said not realizing how he said it. John was his father but Ben had been his dad. Ben was the one that had tucked him in at night, Ben was the one that had saved him from his mother, Ben was the one that had always been there. John hadn't even wanted look at him. "I want to help Sam. I will do what ever it takes to get it done and pull him back from this. But I won't let Ben sacrifice himself for someone he doesn't even know. Not just because I asked him to do it and that's the only reason he is. There has to be another way to get him into that pit."

"And I said we'd figure something else out!" Dean shot back. He'd heard Jack. And on behalf of John, it hurt. Logically he couldn't blame Jack, he supposed. But man, it was like denying the one connection that made them a family. But like everything else, he shoved it to the bottom with everything else. So he started pacing. "There has to be another way."

"I don't think there is." Bobby said.

"That's because you're not thinking." Dean snapped. "Okay, okay. How about me as bait?"

"If he's that far gone, he'll rip the meat off your bones and we still won't have him." Bobby pointed out.

"Oh yeah that's good. That leaves Mary without a father. It's not the getting Sam that's the problem." Jack said. "Ben will do that and I don't have a problem with it or I wouldn't have called him. It's the jumping into the pit to be tortured that is the problem. How do we get Sam into the pit once Ben brings him back? Is there anything that can be done to knock him out?"

"I don't know." Dean said. "You'll have to ask Ben. Because he's the one that took on your mom. Twice." He reminded Jack. "Out of everyone involved, if anyone knows how to fight the type of demon Sam is becoming, it'll be Ben."

Jack scowled at that one. "Yeah.. when she was a demon." He pulled out his cell phone and called Ben once more. "No it's not time." He said by way of hello. Didn't want him thinking they were ready. "You might wanna be in on the planning of this. You wanna come on over, please?" He asked. He didn't want to deal with this. Didn't know if he could deal with this. It was too much to expect.

Ben sighed. "And I was starting to have fun." He said dryly. He hung up and flamed into the room. Which did catch Father Pavel by surprise, but Ben ignored the elderly man. He could...feel in a way...that he was a priest. "What exactly are we planning? I said I'd find Sam and drag his sorry ass back. Any hold up is on your end."

"We're just making sure here." Dean said. "We're a little concerned about this means for you, if you get stuck in the pit with us."

"Really?" Ben said, eyeing the priest.

"Yes." Father Pavel said honestly. "Your son tells me you are one of those who is able to make a choice. That is a rare gift. We would like to avoid bringing anymore harm to you than absolutely necessary. I understand you have fought a nephilim before?"

"We all have a choice. Just most of us choose the so called evil side. Because no matter what we're hunted, exorcized, ostracized. The dark side, they don't try to kill us as much. Plus, usually the pay is better." Ben said and Dean rolled his eyes. "But, yes, I have. I can take down Sam, that's no problem. I told Jack that."

"The problem arises with getting Samuel into the space for the exorcism. The only way to hold him there would be binding circles. You would be trapped with him."

"So there has to be a way to knock him out or something so that you don't go anywhere near that damned pit." Jack interjected. He wasn't going to allow it. No. There was no way it was going to happen.

"Jack," Ben said in what was a gentle tone for him. Calm, without any sarcasm or rancor. "Nothing in that pit can kill me, no matter what they put in it. I've been through exorcisms, priests have attempted to banish me from existence. I outlived them all."

"That isn't the point." Jack said. "And you don't know that. He said that the ritual had only been done once before, and it obviously wasn't on you. It's a reverse exorcism they were saying... God only knows what that would do to you... literally God only knows. They have to consecrate the ground... just being there is going to be torture."

"Reverse exorcism? Will horribly fail on everyone in that pit except for Sam. Because everyone else in there has a soul already. Only room for one, really." He shot Father Pavel a look. "Yes, I have a soul, and yes it's mine."

"Can you knock him out and throw him in?" Dean asked. It would hurt like hell, but it was something.

"Sure. And chance that he doesn't wake up half way through the throw." Ben replied. "Where's the tequila?"

"At which point he rips Dean to shreds slowly and painfully." Bobby interjected.

"There is another answer. We just aren't seeing it... But you guys have to get that pit prepared, the rest of us can debate what the hell to do once we get Sam here that doesn't involve death or torture." Jack said, wanting Bobby away from him at the moment.

"It's going to be torture for everyone in that pit." Father Pavel intoned solemnly. "Demonic or human. Because Sam's body will fight the return of his soul."

"Great." Dean said. He looked at Jack. "First thing's first. We get Kaylie to babysit at your place. Keeps both Mary and Kaylie away from this."

"Right...well... come on." Bobby said to Dean. "I gotta get to welding those chains and you have a pit to clean out and make ready to be blessed. And that's just the begining. Sam doesn't have time for us to be standing here debating on if it's going to hurt or not."

Jack glared at him for that. "I'll keep an eye on Mary until Kaylie can get here to pick her up." He said and pulled out the ever present cell phone once more.

"Let me know when she gets here. You know me, I'll have a list of instructions." Dean said with a weak smile. But Bobby did have a point. His professional garage had to be cleaned out, the cars moved out, the tools moved out, the pit scraped and cleaned.

Ben nodded to Dean and found the tequila himself. "Here we go." Ben said and started drinking. "Should I even be here when Kaylie comes?" He asked with a chuckle. Kaylie could be a firecracker when she wanted to be, and this whole idea wasn't going to go over well.

"Hell yes, someone has to protect me from her, and Dean has work to do." Jack said honestly. "So who else are we calling to come in for this anyway? Shouldnt we get that moving so that they can get on the road?" He asked "Hey, honey, we need you to watch Mary for a while, can you do that?"

"I'll call Ellen. Ash, Joshua, some others I know." Dean said with a sigh, getting out his cell phone and started making calls as he packed Mary's diaper bag with every conceivable thing Kaylie might possibly need.

"Why? Boy's night out?" Kaylie teased as she finished her shift. She had taken an early afternoon shift, so she was just counting her tips right now. "Watch porn and wish women with those measurements really did exist?"

"Nah, that lost it's appeal when Ben hired Candy. You know the one with the back trouble." He said, teasing out of habit more than anything else at the moment. "Sam's priest arrived. He has a ritual that might be able to save him. We need you to watch Mary while we get everything set up and ... and while we perform the ritual."

"Whoa, whoa. Wait a minute. We? We're performing a ritual? You mean the metaphorical we because you're not going to be near that, are you?" She said, counting her tips was now the furthest thing from her mind as she went to her car and closed the door so no one else would hear her. Especially given the nature of the conversation. "Baby, I love you, but are you absolutely nuts?"

"Yeah... to the nuts part. But I mean we as in Dean, me, a priest that reminds me of your great grandfather, and a bunch of hunters I really don't want to know, are going to try and save my brother. " He had to remind himself that Sam was his brother too sometimes. It was just that he didn't know him. Had met him so rarely and only once before the darkness had settled in. The Sam Dean described was so different than the one he knew. He hoped Dean's Sam could be retrieved. He could learn to like and probably love that Sam. The demonic son of a bitch that abandoned Dean at the drop of a hat... he wasn't so fond of.

"My great grandfather was a born and raised and died rancher who screwed any cowgirl he could get his hands on." Kaylie said off handedly. "Look, I know you want to help Dean. But stop and think. This is the same guy who you told me not to be alone with. Not even for a millisecond. Because he was that dangerous. And you're going to try some ritual on him? And I'm supposed to be okay with this? The same guy your other brother, who we know, was nearly tortured to death over?"

"No, you aren't supposed to be happy about it. Not at all...but it's something I have to do." He said honestly. "Come on over, we'll talk while we pack up Mary for you to take her home." Jack sounded tired. He was very tired.The sort of emotional tired that came of years of pent up emotions bubbling to the surface. Dean had lived in fear of Maggie as a child. When reminded of her. When she would arrive and turn his life upside down. Jack had lived in fear of Bobby even if he hadn't known it was him. Always afraid of the Bad Men. The boogeymen that were waiting to drop a house on him, or invade his home and force him to hide in the darkness with a fallen angel for safety. Hell was, he liked Bobby as an individual. And that messed with him in ways he didn't think anyone he knew would understand.

Kaylie made it over there in record time. Dean made a strategic retreat to the nursery with the baby, everyone but Ben evacuated, matter of fact. Ben didn't because he knew he'd be pulled into it sooner or later. Less yelling for Kaylie to do.

She came in, taking off her waitress apron as she closed the door behind her. "You wanted to go on a hunt with Dean for Sam. I was...all right with that. But I am NOT okay with this." She said point blank.

"I'm not asking you to be okay with it." Jack said. "But I'm not asking your permission either. I know it's dangerous. I do. But it's going to happen and I am going to be there. We can spend our time arguing about this or we can spend our time supporting each other in this. Up to you, baby. But I'm doing it."

She looked at him, and the impact of what exactly he was saying hit her. She looked down at the carpet, because she was NOT going to cry. "That is asking a lot of me. You have to know that. Last night we were going to get married, have half a dozen kids, and grow really old. Now, you're telling me that I just might have to bury you and I just have to deal with it."

Ben looked at Jack. Shit, the kid sounded so much like his mother at that moment. It was nearly scary. He looked, and thank whatever higher power gave Dean a pearl of wisdom, Dean wasn't there.

He looked at her a moment and stepped closer, gently pushing the blond hair from her cheek. "I know. But it's family. Even if I don't know him...haven't learned to care about him, it's family. It's the chance to get rid of the monster in side him... to... do for him what no one even really wanted to do for my mom." He sighed. "I have to be a part of it."

The tears spilled from that simple touch. "I hate this." She said honestly. "I don't understand any of this. And I am so scared." She'd spent enough time around the house as Ben and Dean would trade 'war stories' to know the inherent danger. "But if it comes down to you or Sam, baby, please choose you."

"I don't know that it will come down to that. I don't know how long this will take or what have you. It's kind of a reverse exorcism. Shoving Sam's soul back into his body. It sometimes takes days to chase a demon out, from what Sam had said during tiier hunter pow wow when he was here. I can only imagine it will be the same to chase a soul back in. But you can't let yourself think that I won't come out of there. Because I will, and we will start making solid plans on getting married, not just some day. Never know what life's gonna throw at us. Don't have time to wait until it's convenient, you know."

Kaylie sniffed and managed a smile. "So does this me you're finally formally asking me?" She said. Ben had to chuckle at that. They'd been talking hypothetical for years.

Jack chuckled a little. "Yeah... I am finally formally asking you. I have the ring... but it's back at home. Didn't plan on this being how I finally got up the nerve to do it. " He said.

"Okay. I promise not to look for it." She said with a laugh. "And I'm finally, formally, saying yes." Good distraction, on his part. The worry was still there, oh boy was it still there, but the anger had finally dissipated as she kissed him.

Dean figured that was a nice safe time to come back in. "And here I thought Mary would be the maid of honor." He said, the baby in her car carrier as he collapsed the portable playpen.

Jack held her close to him for a few moments longer. "Nah, we gotta get married otherwise how are we going to give her any playmates that understand how her daddy isn't really a complete nut job. He just sounds like one."

"Ha ha. But I'm a COOL nut job." Dean said. "All things being equal, any drop of Winchester DNA kinda negates that whole sanity thing."

"Yeah I kinda noticed." Kaylie said with a sigh. She kissed Jack once more, and moved to take Mary. "Come on, kiddo. Let's go watch some chick flicks and forget that your father and uncle are completely psycho, okay?" She looked at Ben. "I can't believe you're condoning this."

"I'm not condoning anything." He said. "Just the chances for success are better if I help." Success meaning, to Ben, Jack not getting killed.

"Yeah, the funny thing is that the Winchester raised by a demon is the sanest one of the three." Jack pointed out "Although right now that is debatable since I am getting into that hole with you."

"Yeah, definitely makes it debatable." Dean said with a chuckle. "Okay, be a good girl." He said to his daughter. This was hard. This could take days, a week. Any amount of things could go wrong. But he couldn't live with himself if he didn't take this chance while he had it. That driving force deep within him wouldn't let him turn his back on the only chance he had to Save Sammy. He wondered if he should curse his father for the driving force, or thank him for the balls to do it in the first place. "Okay." He said and slung the heavily packed diaper bag and then a carry on onto Kaylie's shoulder. "Formula. She likes it room temperature, not hot, not cold, room temperature. But if it's out for any more than two hours, chuck it and start a new one. Diapers, cream, powder, wipes, all in there. Outfits, toys she likes, music I got her addicted to, her blanket, and a few stuffed animals. Playpen, another blanket for on the floor. After she's fed she's gotta be walked, not rocked. And if she can't sleep, take her for a drive with all the windows open."

"Dean. Dean. I got it." Kaylie said. She'd laugh, but she wasn't happy with Dean right now.

Bobby watched the scene playing out before him and wondered what John would make of it all. He liked to think his old friend would be proud of the two young men before him. That he would be proud of the fight that Sam had put up over the last two years. And it had been a hell of a fight. He had Father Pavel's word on that. Bobby was no fool. He had been keeping tabs on Sam's progress, and ... decline. He wondered how different the world would be if John had been able to deal with Mary's death a little better. He had a feeling it might not be as safe a place.

"I'll take those." Jack said reaching around to take the heavy bags. "Got the car seat ready to transfer?"

"Yeah, the base is in the Impala." Dean said as they walked out. "I swear, Kaylie, any reckless driving and I'll hire a girl to beat you up, got it?" He said as he retrieved the base from the backseat and put it in Kaylie's car.

"Whatever Dean." Kaylie said. But she smiled at Jack, her shoulder felt a lot better without what had to be nearly all of Mary's possessions hanging off it. "Just give me the baby, so we can go."

"Kaylie, I mean it." Dean said.

"Got it." Kaylie said as she took the baby. "We'll be fine. I promise."

"Dean, come on... walk away before she puts the baby down and has a hand free to deck you with." Jack suggested "Only so long I can distract her with kissing you know."

"Then you're not doing it right." Dean said with a chuckle. But Jack was right, maybe not about Kaylie decking him (maybe), but that the sooner Mary was away from the scene, the better Dean would feel. "Come on, we've got a pit to clean. Been meaning to do it for at least a month anyway." And he led Jack away as Kaylie pulled out (quite responsibly too) and headed back to the house she shared with Jack.

Dean and Jack headed into the garage, where everyone was working. "Hey, where's Ben?" He asked.

"He said to 'move your asses, I'm bringing the prodigal son back.' His words, not mine." Father Pavel said as he carefully drew on the walls.

Sam stared at the house and watched. Sarah. Probably the only woman he had kissed in his adult life that was still living. So beautiful... so accepting and open. She had been one of the few bright moments along his road. One that he had thought of often. The one he had left behind, one that would have taken him anyway. It wasn't love. He didn't know if he could still feel that any longer. Didn't care. It wasn't love he was after as he watched her move through her home. It wasn't sex either. not really. He wanted her the way most people would want a pet. Something living and breathing and dependant upon him to own and keep to himself.

"So what do you say, Sammy?" Ben said, appearing behind Sam and whispering in his ear. "Burn the house down? Pin her to the ceiling? Or maybe, just maybe, take her hostage and break her. So many options for creatures like you. So little time. She is mortal, after all."

It hadn't been hard to track down Sam. Oh, there were a few misses, a few near misses, a few near catches. But when Ben was in tune to the demonic world, not many could hide. Especially some snot nosed wet behind the ears but still human in a way nephilim.

Sam slowly took a step forward and turned to face Ben. "Not in the mood today, Ben. You should have killed me before this point. It's a little late now. Go on back and spent what time you can with John's bastard. He's somewhere on the list." He knew it would piss the demon off but he didn't care. What was left of his humanity hoped it would be enough to drive him to kill him before the body faded, but the rest of him reveled in the darkness, and the near invulnerability it allowed him.

"I'd watch your tone, kid. There are worse things than death." Ben growled in a low tone. "But it must suck to be you. Playing all peeping tom and I come to ruin your little adventure. That the best you can hold against me? Jack? I raised him, I did right by that kid. But he's a grown man now. My promise was kept. Oh, wait. That is the best you can use against me. Because everything else is anecdotal comments you might have heard off hand. Go ahead, tell me my wife is burning in hell. That's the only other thing you could say to distract me. Because you can't read my mind, you can't sense my feelings, I'm just a big thick granite wall to you." Maggie had had things to say, because she knew him. She'd talked with him. Sam didn't have that leverage.

"Your wife isn't in hell, Ben." Sam said. "She is in heaven. Of course you'll never get there to join her. Don't you think it's time to just get over it already? Pretty pathetic for someone your age." He said, eyes glowing faintly, A slow smile played across his lips as he tossed the demon across the street, and into a parked car, setting off the alarm.

Ben flared right back into Sam's face within the blink of an eye. "Again, that the best you can do?" Ben said. "Please." He didn't possess telekinesis. But he was abnormally strong. And Sam's body was still human. So he decked him. "You gotta get quicker on the learning curve, junior."

"Why is that Ben? Here to kill me? Bigger demons than you have tried." He said phasing into the shadow he lay upon and reappearing behind Ben, delivering a sucker punch to the back of his head.

Ben went down, then back up. This little shit wasn't going to best him. Even if he passed out after he threw him into the binding trap. "You still don't get it." Ben said, grabbing Sam and sliding to a shadow world. Because he was more experienced fighting there than Sam was. By centuries. "By the time you do figure it out, it'll be way too late for you. Just between us, I look forward to standing over your battered corpse and pissing. You've caused me enough headaches."

"I didn't tell you to take in Johns brats." Sam said going insubstantial to escape Ben's grasp. It was easier in the shadows to become one with them. "Or pay for their schemes. That's all your own doing."

"Yeah, yeah." Ben said as the area erupted into flames. Hard to find a shadow if everything was lit brightly. With light that danced, swayed and moved. Unpredictable. And every time Sam was forced from a shadow, Ben was there to assault him. "Keep saying that, Sam. John's bastard, John's brats. He was your father too as much as it must burn you to admit."

"He was just the sperm donor. The horse my father rode in on" Might as well admit it. Revel in it. He was the child of a fallen angel. One of the princes of Hell. Who was John Winchester in the light of that? A mechanic. Who couldn't get past the rank of corporal in the military. A man who had raised and loved him. Taught him to be strong. Then left him in the dark to face what was coming. "John Winchester isn't my father. Not now.."

"Oh, we're playing that game now?" Ben said, slamming Sam again. If this ritual worked, Sam would be in some serious pain. "Then how about Jessica? Or even Madison? Were they just whores for you to entertain yourself with as you waited for your transformation? Playthings to be cast aside and forgotten about? Used and discarded?"

With that, Sam roared and actually joined in the fight, adding his own flames to what Ben had to offer. No one spoke of them. No one. Martyrs in the war that had always been Sam's life. Beautiful, warm, beacons of light and compassion in a world that didn't deserve them, or the sacrifices they made. "You think fire is going to hurt me? Think a little heat is going to waken this body? " The two men fought, Sam, limited by his lack of experience with his powers and Ben, by the fact that somewhere along the way he was supposed to bring the little bastard home. The battle raged in the umbra, their flames deepening some shadows, eliminating others, but eventually Samuel tired. Eventually he couldn't continue the fight because, as much as his soul and sanity were being eaten away his body, was still there. His humanity hung heavily over him while Ben's did not.

"Fire?" Ben laughed. "You fight me with fire? I was born of this!" He said and knocked Sam out cold. Then Ben cracked his neck and picked Sam up, heading back to Texas. Appearing in front of the garage. "Incoming!" He shouted as he threw Sam into the pit where Dean and Jack were waiting.

Jack moved quickly to pull Sam toward the chains, relieved that Ben was having nothing to do with this part of it. His heart pounded in his chest and he looked at Dean to be sure his brother was ready for this, not that there was any choice. Not now.

Sams eyes opened and he growled lowly pulling away from Jack and Dean. "You should have killed me while you had the chance." Both of his brothers were shoved away from him by an invisible force, pinning them against the wall. "I was going to be nice and give you a little more time with Mary but if you want it this soon... where is the little angel anyway? Let me guess, with the next Winchester casualty... someone else has his eyes on that one."

Ben hadn't gone into the pit. Because he knew what it would mean. It would mean he couldn't get out until it was all over, one way or another. But then Sam decided to go after Jack. And that was not allowed. The threat against Kaylie, Sam didn't even try to veil it, was another straw to break his resolve.

So in he went. Knocking Sam around enough to break his grip on the boys, seeing them slouch to the floor out of the corner of his eye. He grabbed the chains, burning his hands, but he grit his teeth and restrained Sam. "I told you to watch your fucking mouth." He growled. He looked at Dean and Jack. "Do it."

"No... get Ben out of here. The chains will hold long enough to do that. Get him out of here. " Jack said.

"They can't do that." Sam said and laughed, inspite of the pain coursing through his body. "They can't let him out without having to redo everything... so what's it gonna be Jackie boy... your brother or your daddy... the brother you hate, or the daddy you wish really was so that he won't leave you. "

"If I hated you, I wouldn't be here." Jack countered.

"Oh come on. Tell the truth and shame the devil. " He said as he sat up shoulders twisting out of joint to allow him the manuverability. "You're here cause you know if you fight it and Dean succeeds, he'll ditch you for me and be gone in about 3 seconds flat... baby and all. Hell he just might do it anyway. So what's the plan Jack... flub a line here and there? No one could blame you, you aren't an exorcist. You aren't even a hunter. You're a demon lover... if Kaylie had horns it would just make the package more perfect, wouldn 't it? Maybe a little bit of a tail... or are you a bat wings and a push up bra kinda guy?"

"I said watch your mouth." Ben said and decked him. "Jack, do it. There's no choice in the matter. We end this now, or he comes back after you guys. I'll be fine."

Dean couldn't believe this was his brother, all that was coming out of his mouth. He winced as he heard Sam's shoulders pop out of joint. "Bobby!" He called up and Bobby threw down a bottle of tequila. He handed it to Ben. "Sorry, man."

"Yeah, I know. Just get going." Ben said and started drinking. He'd need it.

The brothers looked at one another and then at the priest, before the three of them took their places and began the ritual.

"You can't save me, priest, there is nothing to save. Pesky old soul is gone... gave it up so Dean could go and fuck up his life with out dragging me along for a change. Let me go and we'll call it a night. I owe you for the teaching. That and cutting down the competition. "

Dean looked up sharply at that. But it wasn't the yellow eyed demon who had saved him. With a breath, Dean decided to hold onto that nugget for a minute or so as he talked over Sam. Chanted and recited. He had years of experience in talking louder than Sam after all. Father Pavel likewise ignored all the talk. This wasn't comfortable for demons, they'd say anything to get any speck of release and reprieve.

Ben stayed out of the way, but even this early it felt like a million knives were hitting him. Cold knives at that. So he just kept drinking and hoped this would be over soon.

"I promised I'd save you, Sammy. And I'm going to." Dean said as he made the sign of the cross over Sam's forehead with his thumb, dipped in holy water.

Sam cried out and twisted his head away, blisters forming on his forehead. "Save me? Dean... you're just going to kill me. But that's what Dad wanted, wasn't it? For you to do what he couldn't. What he wasn't man enough to do. Hell, I don't think you're man enough to finish it either. People always say I'm the soft one but they're wrong. You're the one that can't make it on your own. You never could."

It was like a sucker punch to the gut, seeing the blisters form like that. But Dean took a deep breath. "You're right." He said to Sam with a shrug. "But the good part is, I don't have to. Oh, you left out that I'm the better looking, more charming one too." He said as he patted his brother's cheek then stood back up and nodded to Jack. Had to keep going.

The priest rained down holy water, chanting and canting with a voice that belied his age and diminuitive appearance. Never faltering, never stopping. At times he seemed to not even need air. Chanting in a language even older than Latin, he was going to restore this soul. Not even the devil himself could stop him.

Jack fought through the process. It was a learning experience for him but he kept going. Doing what he needed when he needed, and looking over at Ben when he simply wasn't actively needed. Ben didn't wear his pain as obviously as Sam. But then Jack was sure that normally Sam didn't either. This was the demon he was becoming lashing out at Dean. His guardian, his protector, the one that was the true heart of the ritual, and Sam wanted that heart broken and broken fast.

Sam cried out and struggled for Dean's benefit, for hours he screamed until his voice was hoarse, then laughed sharply and began to cant the Rituale romanum backwards, his voice rising in pitch and volume like a well seasoned exorcist.

"Wrong ritual, child." Father Pavel said calmly to Sam as he lit the holy incense. "You cannot stop it, but you fight it anyway. Causing so much harm to those around you that care for you. In the hopes of stopping us? The more you resist it, the harder we fight for the Sam that we know. I am sorry for the pain, but it is of your doing."

Ben covered his mouth and nose, the blessed incense smelled like a dead and dying skunk to him. But then again, this whole thing wasn't easy on him either. Dean looked at Ben, then he looked at Jack, and regret was clear in his eyes.

"Jack...I can't have this thing passing as Sam come back for Mary. I just can't. I want my brother back, and I have to protect my daughter. I'm sorry." He said. And he was. But it wasn't going to change his plan.

Jack nodded, taking a drink of water in the lull. "I know. I understand. But we're gonna have a talk about some things once this is done... all of us... about a lot of things. If this family is going to work."

"Aww are we having a bonding moment?" Sam asked choking on the incense, his eyes burning, red rimmed. "Or is this where you tell him that you can't go risking everything you care about for everything he cares about... which was pretty much me until that kid came along. Look at the bright side Dean, once I get out of here you will have all your eggs in one basket. Just won't know where it is but you are used to that, aren't you? You two are perfect for each other really. Someone gets 10 feet out of your reach and you are sure you are abandoned. " He laughed, coughing again and the laugher turned into a growl. "Nobody loves me everybody hates me, guess I'll go eat worms." He sang in a lilting mocking tone. "Oh wait... it'll be the worms eating you."

"Shut up, Sam." Jack said with Sam saying it with him. "Son of a bitch." Again in unison then Sam laughed.

"You do a good impersonation of Sam." Dean said, shaking his head. Block it out, block it out, block it out and focus. He kept repeating to himself.

"Are we ready?" Father Pavel said, allowing the younger men a break, but they needed to keep up the momentum. "Then let's continue." He said as he stood at Sam's feet and started the ritual again.

The brothers nodded and they went back to work, those standing around the pit above adding their efforts and reciting the ritual prayers as directed. Everyone was exhausted by the end of the first day, and well into the second most of those above were losing hope. Jack refused to give up however. He wouldn't allow Dean and Ben to go through this preview of hell for nothing.

"He's been through worse. Quit you're whining about it." Sam said, genuine exhaustion in his tone. "For fuck's sake I can hear you thinking. Bad enough without the constant bitching in that head of yours. Grow up, Mama's boy, give the rest of us a break."

"Sam, shut up." Dean said, but even his voice was starting to lack the growl it had gained half way through. But he kept pushing forward. If the old priest could do it, he could do it. He'd do most anything for Sam regardless.

"Now there's an idea." Ben mumbled from his corner. "Don't worry, Jack." He said with a wink. "I was in one exorcism that lasted two weeks." Exorcisms could only evict a soul that didn't belong there, not one that did, which was why they'd never worked on him. At least never as intended. They couldn't get Ben out of the pit, they'd tried. So they sent down every blanket they could find. Ben liked heat, and especially now, every last degree of it helped. Also helped hide the blood and other injuries.

Sam however liked the temperature cold. Or at least liked the effect that keeping the pit literally frosty cold had on those around him. The old priest's words formed puffs of smoke in the chill of it all inspite of the heat of the Corpus Christi summer.

"It's going to kill you old man... you know that. It's going to rip that soul right out of your body to do this. "

"I know." Father Pavel said and smiled serenely. "But I have a strong soul." Ben was working on bringing the ambient temperature up, and it got up the room temperature at least. He could not wait until this was over. He really couldn't. Father Pavel looked at everyone. "We will take a five minute break." He announced. There were human needs to attend to. Bathroom. Food. If they were to last, they had to take small breaks where they could.

Sam tugged at the chains as though in boredom, but the flesh around them was blistered and bleeding. Even if he survived this it was going to scar him permenantly. The holy water had left blisters and welts across his body. Sam was pale, and his breathing was ragged. The mortal body very much in distress and nearing the point of complete exhaustion. "Hey, don't forget me down here." He said. "I have needs too." He waggled his eye brows.

"Will you shut up?" Ben snapped. "I, for one, don't give a fuck about your needs. Once they're done, then you can have your needs taken care of. Just do me a favor and shut the fuck up. I'm unrestrained, remember." He just couldn't get out of here.

Outside the pit, eating fast, Dean looked at Father Pavel. "How much longer?" He asked. "I don't know how much more Sam can survive."

Bobby came over and lay a hand on Dean's shoulder while handing him a bottle of gatorade. "There is no way to know that. But there is a part of Sam still in there. He hasn't tried to kill you since this whole thing started. Something deep inside is restraining him better than we could. " He didn't like what he was thinking, but it was what he had been afraid of from the beginning. Failure would mean death. "Go talk to him. Not to the demon he is becoming but... go talk to Sam. He's giving up. Don't let him."

Dean sighed and hopped back down into the pit. Gave Ben another bottle and sat down besides the restrained Sam. "You thirsty, dude?" He asked, he had the bottle of Gatorade with him. He'd treat Sam like Sam until told other wise. But Sam wasn't allowed to give up. Because what everyone else was going through, Dean wouldn't let it be for nothing.

Sam looked up at him a moment. "Yeah." He said quietly. "But keep it. This has to end, the sooner it ends the better." Sam's body ached. His soul ached. Or what was left of it anchored in his body. His mind was spasming between wanting to be whole and real again, wanting to die, and wanting to rip everyone within his line of sight into very small very blood pieces. But always there was Dean.

"Come on, Sammy, you gotta drink something." Dean said, raising Sam's head and holding thebottle to his lips. "Because I'm not giving you your soul back only to have you die of dehydration. Just hold it together, a little longer. Just hold it together, man. Please."

"I was going to hurt her." Sam said, drinking a little only because to do other wise would be to choke. "If he hadn't stopped me... I would have hurt her... I was going to hurt Sarah. Let it end... don't risk any more of this... or any one else... He can't do this and survive it... I won't have that on my conscience. Let me die."

"You and Dad never once let me die." Dean pointed out. "This was his idea, you know. Came all the way back from Rome with this in his suitcase. Whether we help him or not, he's doing this. ANd I'm doing it. Because you are not going to die,you hear me? You're not going to die. We're going to fix this."

"I feel like I'm flying apart. One moment I'm me and the next I'm this monster and I'm not possessed... this is what I am ... Dean... we have no way of knowing how long this will take, or if it will work. I made the deal... it's what I wanted to do ... it's okay... just let it go."

"I'm not letting it go, and I'm not letting you go." Dean said. "Dammit, Sam, I wish you would have told me about this deal a lot sooner. He didn't hold up his end of the bargain. It wasn't him that saved me. It was me, and my own...well...totem. The demon had nothing to do with any of it. He did nothing to save me, or fix me, or stop me from dying. There's no deal to uphold."

Sam looked at Dean for a moment, so many emotions playing across his face. Relief, outrage, horror were the simple ones. But emotions are never really simple. Nothing in life is simple. Most especially not when it involves a man's slowly fading soul. And body. "I will kill him.'" He said then, his voice deep and resonating. Which was impressive coming from a chest that faded in and out of existence in that moment. "Do you hear me you sorry son of a bitch?" He roared, knowing that the yellow eyed demon couldn't be far away. "I will pluck out those yellow eyes and eat them for breakfast!" He pulled against the chains, bound in place inspite of his fluctuating substatiality.

"Later." Dean said. "Later we'll kill him. Right now, I need you back, Sam. So with whatever's left of you in there, I need you to hold on. And I need you to fight. Because you can't cross over, that's giving him what he wants, what he tricked you into agreeing into. So we're going to fight. Because it's the first thing we can do to piss him off."

Father Pavel lowered himself carefully back into the pit. "It's time to continue." He said. "Are you ready, Samuel?"

Sam looked up and nodded. "I'm ready." He swallowed hard. "I'm sorry." He told the aging priest, knowing what this was costing him. "Can't talk you out of this, can I?" He didn't want to lose his friend. Even if this was what the man had known was coming his entire life.

Father Pavel smiled kindly and patted Sam's cheek. "It's quite all right, child." He said. "I do not mind, I could not think of a better reason if I tried." He straightened up. "Let's continue. The day grows late."

Jack tucked the blankets around Ben, managing to smile a little as he pushed himself to his feet once more. "Yeah, our local friendly demon population is looking a little worse for wear. They both need this to be done as soon as possible."

Bobby watched on from above, wishing there had been another way as well. ANY other way. But life had a way of playing itself out. He turned his attention to an exhausted Ellen. "And here you thought you had retired." He said moving back to his position.

"Yeah, well, one can hope." Ellen said as she straightened up, finishing her coffee in one giant gulp.

"Oh yeah, hope this finishes fast." Ben mumbled. RIght now, in this moment, he didn't feel like he was being pulled apart. That would change as soon as the priest opened his mouth. Not all the screams were Sam's after all.

The priest looked at everyone, then started. Continued. Leaning against the wall for support. He knew this would be the last ritual he would ever do. Then, he'd retire. Of course, most exorcists only retired one way, and that was the way he was going.

"No!" Sam screamed knowing what was happening. Knowing it was going to happen and watching it happen were two different things. It was like finding his father on floor again, it was losing someone else that he cared about. "Not for nothing... not now... not yet... oh God." He said in a hoarse whisper, his head falling back to the floor of the pit, eyes closing as they filled with tears, dark inky tears. His form becoming more fluid, shadow then slowly solid, each transition taking longer than the last.

Father Pavel kept praying, falling to his knees as he chanted the ritual. He was gray, and soaked with sweat, but kept going, until he was nearly lying on the floor. Then...nothing.

"Father?" Dean said. "Father?" The old priest was on his knees, bent foward so his forehead touched the floor, his arms outstretched. Dean went over to him and rolled him onto his back, where sightless eyes stared at the ceiling far above him. "Oh no." He said. "No, no, no, no."

"He's dead." Ben mumbled from his corner. He could nearly feel the exorcist's spirit leaving.

Jack moved quickly to Sam. "I think we're losing him too. Dean... we gotta come up with something quick." He said, checking Sam's vitals during the times when he was actually substantial. "Or we are going to have one hell of a pissed off demon on our hands instead of a soggy brother."

"Boy," the voice said, "the bond... you must renew the bond."

"What the fuck?" Jack asked his own head almost spinning around like a refugee from the set of The Exorcist.

"I've got a monopoly on pissed off demon." Ben said, using the reprieve from the ritual to drink. He didn't think anything of the voice, thought he must be drunk or something at this point.

"The bond. Right. The bond." Dean said, and left Father Pavel's side and looked around the pit. He thought the voice was in his head, not realizing that Jack heard it. "Okay, okay." He said. Finally he found a shard of metal from where one of the chains had busted. He went back over to Sam. "Okay, here we go." He said and sliced Sam's palms while he was solid. "Your blood..." he said, then dragged the shard over his own palm until there was a nice, deep, bleeding cut, making him hiss, "my blood..."

Jack held his hand over to Dean's, before he could cut his other palm. Sam was his brother too. "Our blood." He corrected gently and waited for the cut to come. He wasn't entirely certain what he was getting himself into, but it didn't matter. These were his brothers. His family. Dysfunctional or not, they were his and he wasn't going to let either of them go.

Dean was surprised, a bit, but he nodded as he held Jack's wrist with his bleeding hand, and sliced the palm of his youngest brother. "Our blood." He agreed as he pressed his hand into Sam's, palm to palm, cut to cut, blood to blood, as Jack did the same thing with Sam's other hand. "Winchester blood, and it's the only thing that counts in this moment." He said firmly.

The bear roared as she appeared behind the brothers. "Welcome home, boy, " She said as she passed through the two of them and into Sam, taking the essence of both brothers with her as she went, grounding it into Samuel as she continued on through into him. "Welcome home." She repeated.

The garage was filled with a blinding white light. The ritual, the priest's sacrifice, the bonding of the brothers...all necessary to bring it to being once more. The purity of it was almost painful, as it concentrated around the brothers, eventually slamming itself into Sam, leaving everyone blinded in the darkness of its absence.

Time stopped, it seemed. Along with the absence of light, there was an absence of sound. Time, motion, everything stopped. Then sped up painfully as the outer garage door was raised.

A small contingent of priests, five in all, all in formal robes, stood there at the edge of the pit, looking down. Dean had to shield his eyes with his free hand as he looked up, seeing only silhouettes.

"Sam?" He said. "Sam? You with us?"

"Dean..." Sam said weakly, barely conscious. He hurt. By God he hurt so badly he almost couldn't bear it. "It doesn't burn any more." He whispered, slipping into unconsciousness.

Jack rushed over to Ben, finding him slumped against the wall of the pit, unconscious but breathing. "Thank God.." he breathed and rested his head against his foster father. "We gotta get him out of here, please break that circle... please."

"I'm on it." Ellen said, as she started rubbing turpentine along the circle, to remove the paint. Making a path to raise Ben out of and get him out of there. She'd never seen anything like that, a demon throwing himself deliberately into harm's way with no actual benefit to himself. She was still processing it. "Jack, honey, he's pretty heavy...we're going to have to winch him out." Clip the winch onto the blankets and lever him out that way.

The priests came into the pit and surrounded Father Pavel's body, praying and giving last rites as another came to Dean.

"We've arranged for a car accident down the road." He said softly. "We need to get him into the wreck and call an ambulance." All the while discreetly flicking the unconscious young man with holy water, and seeing it not burn or blister his skin.

Jack got the winch settled on a knot the blankets and watched as they pulled Ben up and out of the circle. He then turned his attention once more to Sam. "Dean... come on... let's get him undone. He has to get out of here pretty fast, he needs medical attention." He didn't have time to think about what had just happened. What he had done or seen or felt. He'd process that later.

Dean nodded and let go of his brother's hand to undo the chains binding his brother to the pit floor. Then they rolled Sam carefully to get another blanket under him and raise him out of the pit.

"I'll go to the hospital with Sam, get him settled and then I'm going to your place." Dean said, shakily, but strong. "Go with Ben, I'll send Kaylie over."

"We will clean everything up." Bobby said, meaning him, Ellen and Ash. "Place will be spotless by tomorrow."

"Thanks." Jack said. "Call me once you get him in a room." He told Dean then raced out of the pit and over to his car where Ellen was just fastening Ben into the seat. "It's okay." He told him even though he was sure he wasnt hearing him. "It's over. I will get you home and crank the heat up all the way... maybe even start a fire in the fireplace." He said as he started the car and began to drive. He had never seen Ben unconscious before. He had never seen anything that had been able to do more than piss him off before. Jack was scared.

Dean got Sam out of the pit and the priests took over.

"You cannot come. We'll plant his identification on him, with your number, and the hospital must call you." A priest said, gently leading Dean away.

"But..."

"Too many questions otherwise."

"How do you know my number?" Dean asked, eyeing the priest suspiciously.

"We know it. That's all you need to know. Now go home to your baby, and wait for the call."

Dean wasn't happy with that, but he was outnumbered. And too tired to argue. Shit was he tired.

It was more than an hour later when the call from the hospital came. "Mr. Winchester? I'm sorry to call you so late at night." The young woman on the other end of the phone line said. "I'm calling from St. Mark's hospital. Do you know a young man named Samuel Winchester? He has been brought into the emergency room. I'm afraid there has been an accident."

"Oh god." Dean said, instilling the right amount of panic into his voice. "Yes, I have a brother named Sam. Is he...is he all right?"

"The doctors are still with him." She said politely.

"I'll be right there." He said and gathered up the baby, barely unpacked from her days with Kaylie and got into the Impala, calling Ben's house and spoke to Kaylie.

"All right, I'll tell them. No, he still hasn't woken up." She said and went back into Ben's bedroom, where Jack was waiting for Ben to wake up. "The hospital finally called, Dean's going there to find out what's up with Sam." She said, sitting back next to Jack. At least he'd let her bandage his hand. They were both one step above being just in their underwear, and it was a short step at that. But they had the heat blaring as high as it could go, a fire in the fireplace, and Ben was covered in blankets and heating pads.

But Ben had explained to both of them that it was impossible for him to ever go to a hospital. He went once, and barely escaped dissection. Because he wasn't completely human, and the demon was right, it was an accident he'd been allowed to be born in the first place, he didn't have pulses in the normal places. His organs were in different places, or altogether missing, or just completely different from purely human organs. Not to mention his natural body temperature was much higher than even Dean's in his worst fever. So all they could do was wait.

Jack watched Ben worriedly. "He jumped in there to save me. " He told her, reaching out to touch her hand lightly. He wanted to pull her close but it was too hot. The temperature was steadily approaching 100 degrees. "I didn't want him in there. Didn't want him anywhere near that pit, but he dove right in anyway."

Kaylie reached down into the quickly dwindling pile of disposable ice packs and squeezed it, shaking the chemicals together. Then she rested it on Jack's shoulder and rested her head on the ice pack. Beacuse, damn, it was way too hot in here for them!

"I know you didn't want him in there. And I also know he didn't think twice about jumping in." Kaylie said. "Because he loves you. If he didn't he would have flamed away when you graduated." She knew Jack, she really did, and knew that was one of his biggest fears. But she also knew Ben, and his commitment to his obligations. Once they were fulfilled, that was it. He was done. But he wasn't done with Jack, though he'd kept his promise and raised him. And since no one could make Ben do what he didn't want to do, he stuck around because he wanted to.

"I know. And that's why he is in this condition. Because he loves me and I asked him to help. I can't help worrying that we are going to lose both him and Sam. Did you see how he looked when the priests took him out of there? " Sam had looked like he was on death's door. "Dean has got to be going insane. God I wish I could hold you right now but I think we would both melt with that much contact."

"Oh probably. Which is why when Ben wakes up, and we get the word on Sam, we're headed straight for some quality time in the walk in freezer at Ben's club." Kaylie joked. Though that did sound good right about now. "Jack, what exactly happened?" She asked, since she'd been watching Mary the whole time. Next thing she knew, Dean was coming in, looking beat to hell with a slice on his palm. She headed straight to Ben's, to find Jack looking not that much better, with a matching cut. Ben, well, she'd never seen him so much as ill before, so she was still processing that.

Jack took a deep breath and then began to explain it all to her from start to finish. He was sure the ritual would be emblazened on his mind for all time and eternity. "I still feel like this is something out of the twilight zone. My own brother was this evil thing. My God he was ... I've never seen anything so twisted except for the demon that came for you. All my life, I thought that Ben was the norm. That most demons were just like people, and just wanted to go on with their lives and be left alone, but that's not really the way it is. Ben and the demons he has let anywhere near me have all been the exceptions to the rule. "

Kaylie agreed that it was the weirdest and strangest thing she'd ever heard. Or even seen in some horror movie. Then she sighed. "Jack, you never come to realizations without coming to a decision." She pointed out.

"I can't close my eyes to it anymore. I want to help Dean. I know it's going to piss Ben off, and I don't want to, but... there is so much evil out there, actual gut wrenching evil... I can't ignore it or pretend it's all perceptions anymore. "

Kaylie closed her eyes and exhaled. She should have known something like this was coming. Somehow. "Can we...can we talk about this when Ben is awake and fine? And we know Sam is fine?" One thing at a time. She could handle multiple crises, but when one involved the love of her life going off on a hunting spree with her brothers (who she wasn't exactly convinced were sane to start with), that one had to be handled on its own.

"Yeah... we can wait. " Jack said. "I'm sorry. I know this isn't the sort of life you thought you would be having with me. It's not even the life I thought I would be having, but I guess it's inevitable. " He closed his eyes as well. "God I love you. I have to do something to be able to protect you."

"You can't protect me if you're dead." She said quietly. It was too hot to debate on whether or not she needed protection. She could, by, all rights, take care of herself. She could throw a punch as well as the next girl raised partly on a ranch. She was fairly articulate and had been known to talk her way out of things. She also knew when to run, most importantly. But it was too hot to get into an argument about that.

"Let's talk about all of this when we can breathe again." He said as he got up to go check on Ben again. "I want the whole family here to talk anyway." He needed things resolved. It had been two years and nothing was ever resolved. Well he needed that to change. He desperately needed that to change. He had spent too long living with the fear of losing his brothers utterly. The fear of losing Kaylie.

Ben groaned when the blankets were shifted and opened his eyes, wincing at the light a bit. "Okay, next person that loses their soul, they're on their own. Really." He mumbled and looked at Jack through half opened eyes as his eyes adjusted to the light. "Did it work at least?"

"Yeah... it did." Jack said. "Sam is at the hospital, the priests came to take away Father Pavel... who died in the process... and then they arranged for a car wreck for Sam to be found in, so not even a blip on the police radar even. Although how he is going to explain the burn marks around his wrists and ankles, I don't know. How are you feeling? Is it warm enough for you in here?"

"The Catholic Church is a master at conspiracies and cover ups." Ben said with a bit of a chuckle as he pushed himself into a sitting position. It was nicely temperate in the room. "Yeah, it's good." Then he laughed. "Which means now that I'm awake, feel free to run outside into the cold air."

"It's in the 80s out there, doubt it's cold to anyone but you." Jack said with a faint laugh. "Anything you want or need before we go and breathe for a minute or two?" He wasn't going to leave Ben until he was better. It just wasn't going to happen.

"Yeah, stop looking at me like you expect me to die. I told you that wouldn't kill me. Also my cigarettes...can't remember where I put them last." Ben said. But that whole day was hazy right now, as he had just woken up.

"Got it. Cigarettes and you're going to live." Kaylie said and took Jack's hand. A breath of air would be nice. And, probably, eighty degrees would feel cool right now.

Sam had gotten into an ICU bed, and Dean had to stop himself from laughing. It was one he had stayed in once. The doctors held out hope, but that was about it, and couldn't explain half the injuries, but said that could sometimes happen with car accidents.

Which meant they had no idea and had to try and sound smart. Dean saw right through it.

But he sat by his brother's bedside, with his daughter. His feet propped up on the end of Sam's bed as Mary drank from a bottle, oblivious as babies often were to what was going on around her.

"Come on Sam." Dean said. "Can't leave now. Just got you back."

Sam was aware. Not that he was conscious, but he was aware of what was going on around him. He had felt the holy water on his hand and had wanted to cry in exhausted relief when it didn't burn, had felt them move him to the car, had heard the EMTs speculating on what had happened to him, and whether he was even going to make it to the hospital in time. Was this what Dean had felt and heard every time he had been so close to death?

He moaned softly, trying to come to the surface again but his body refused to let him draw any closer than that.

Dean exhaled a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. Any little response was a good response as far as he was concerned. "It's okay, Sam. Get some rest." He said, blinking back tears of relief and exhaustion. "I'm here, Jack's with Ben, he's going to be fine. Just rest and get better. You know how wiggy hospitals make me."

One burned and bruised hand came up to Sam's face. "Hospital... that's usually your place of residence."

"Doesn't mean I like it, dude." Dean said. "How are you feeling? Do you need something? Do you want a nurse? Me to leave the room and invite a candy striper in?"

"No... I think my world has been rocked enough for one day... week... how long were we down there anyway?" He asked, his voice ragged, whisper soft. "Oh god, something to drink would be good."

Dean poured him a glass of water, stuck a straw in it and held it for Sam. "Three days." Dean said. "Plus four days of Ben finding you, and the two day head start you got." He shook his head. "Thank god for Bobby, Ellen, Ash, and Jacob. They cleaned the garage up good, can't tell that it was ever used for anything but a garage."

"What happened to Pavel?" He asked before taking a drink of the water. "I know he died... he... he had to sacrifice himself for the ritual to work." Sam said and his eyes welled with tears. "What... happened to his body?"

"Priests swooped in. Set you up in a car accident, took the body." Dean said. "From what I've been able to find out, they buried him in a catacomb along side popes. They said when you're ready, you can go pay your respects." In Vatican City itself. Which meant Sam had to be more than ready, he had to be back fully.

Sam nodded. "He has earned it. I wish you had been able to get to know him. He was an amazing man. I learned so much from him." He groaned a little at a wave of pain but breathed through it. "I think I've turned into a wimp again."

"You were always a wimp." Dean said with a laugh. "Yeah, he seemed it. He blessed Mary, not a baptism, still working on that, but he blessed her all the same. He really cared about you. I'm glad you weren't out there all alone."

"It's a start. We'll get her baptized. " He smiled a little with cracked, dry lips. "I know. I wouldn't have made it as long as I have without him. He gave me the tools to fight it as long as I could, but I never really fought all the way. I was afraid to I guess."

"Well, that's why you've got brothers, right?" Dean said with a bit of a smile. "To push, shove and basically beat the shit out of you when you need it."

"Yeah...you covered all of that this time, didn't you?" He said with a weak laugh. "Trouble is, now you are stuck with me."

"Well, you were right. I don't deal with abandonment well at all. I like people in hearing, if not seeing distance. If they're not, I get edgy, cranky, pissed off..." Dean said as Mary finished her bottle. "Which doesn't bode well for this little one at all."

"Nah... she will be fine. Kids need parents like that... but Dean... those things that I said back there. It was ... I was... I don't even have the benefit of saying I was possessed. I was... well... pretty much a soulless bastard back there. I was trying to hurt all of you as much as I could. I'm sorry for that, and most of it wasn't true at all. if it was... it was twisted. You just gotta treat it like it was coming from a demon, cause it pretty much was."

"Sam, shut up." Dean said. "I'm okay. I really am. Maybe I'm not as...sensitive is the wrong word...as I used to be. But I'm good. We're good. That was evil freaky girlie purple eyed Sam. Not freaky long haired girlie Sam. There is a difference in my mind you know."

"Glad to hear it." He let out a long sigh. "Not sure what to do with myself anymore." He admitted. "I guess right now I lay here and pretend it's all good for a while. I ahm... don't think we have to worry about me turning dark again though. Not even if I continued doing exorcisms." He hoped. He would have to speak with one of the other exorcists when he went to pay his respects to Father Pavel to make sure. He didn't want to exorcise his way into hell.

"Dude, you just woke up. Really don't have to worry about what to do with yourself. What you're going to do right now is get better so we can get you the hell out of here." Dean said with a laugh as he burped his daughter. "But...gotta ask, dude. Because you know it's going to come up, and I'll be a whole lot less defensive on the issue...but you said another one had its eye on Kaylie. Talking out of your ass?"

"Yeah. I was." He said with a sheepish grin."But it sure got him focused, didnt it? Guess he really is a Winchester." Sam hadn't really planned anything other than lashing out . It was all he could think to do while in that pit. Everything was blinding hot pain and anger.

"Yeah it got him focused all right. Thought he was going to kill you there for a moment." Dean said with a chuckle. "But that might haunt him for a bit. You know, after what happened to Mom, and Jessica. Don't worry, he'll get over it. Oh, they're officially engaged now. So lots of good things came out of it. You came back, and Jack finally found his balls."

"Yeah. He doesn't like me much but that's okay. He doesn't have to. Things will settle down eventually." He said letting his eyes drift closed for a moment. "The demon isn't going to be happy, you know. He seemed to think I was going to be some sort of special monster in his court. "

"He doesn't like or dislike you. He doesn't know you." Dean pointed out about Jack. "Give him some time. And as for the demon, he can kiss my ass. We won, Sammy. He didn't. Let's just think about that for a while, until you get out of here."

"We won the battle... not the war... " He then smiled a little. "Yet... for that I need that yellow eyed son of a bitch's name."

"We'll find it, then we'll exorcise that son of a bitch. Then go to a bar." Dean said with a laugh. "Yeah, we definitely deserve a drink even after this. Would it be in bad form to raid Ben's stock?"

"I'm not going another three rounds with Ben, thank you very much. That one you are going to have to fight on your own, big brother. But god I could use a drink."

Dean laughed. "You've got your pick. Water or formula." He said with a smirk. "Because I remember people, including you, never sneaking me in beer during any of my hospitalizations."

Sam laughed then groaned because it hurt to laugh. "Jerk." He said with a grin.

"Hey, pay back's a bitch. And come to think of it, so are you. Bitch." Dean said with a grin. Felt good to say that too.

A/N: "In the name of the father" coming soon to a computer screen near you! Our boys finally get a chance at getting rid of the yellow eyed demon, hoping to end the family curse before its passed on to thier children. Now that I have given a shameless plug for the upcoming story, let me give another for our homepage. It gives images and short bios on the characters and the stories we have created, well... and how we have tweeked those Kripke has created as well. Simply go to either my or StrangeOblivions profile and click on home page!


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